


a sea of wishes

by zadonis



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Smut, M/M, Slow Burn, Space AU, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 23:29:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 27,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6133834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zadonis/pseuds/zadonis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam is a lost boy. Zayn is a space pirate. There are many adventures to be had. OR (an au set in a future where the rest of the universe is thriving, and planets in unclaimed galaxies are owned by people, and maybe there are space pirates who are insanely attractive and will make beautiful Earth-apocalypse survivor's fall in love with them. or maybe you'll have to read to find out.)</p><p>**In case it's not obvious by the long time since the last update, this story's not happening anymore**
</p>
<p>***Probably***</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

In the days of the ancestors, the world was good. The sun shone bright, the ocean lapped prettily against white sand beaches in the Caribbean, and at night the moon and stars made an appearance on the wide stage of the sky, performing dances until the sun rose again.

Liam’s mother told him stories that her grandmother told her. On the dark nights when nature roared loudly around them, Mumma would pull him close on the mattress, and whisper stories of Princes and Princesses, talking animals, and the hope the human race used to have for leaving this hellhole of a planet. Liam never thought it was strange how different the present was from that distant past. Crushing skies and tarry oceans had infiltrated his mind so that he didn’t even have a real concept of what that time in the past could be like. Clear blue oceans? All of the water he’d ever seen was brown and stained your skin if you dared to touch it.

Mumma succumbed to The Sickness when he was twelve. She drowned in her own blood, clawing at her neck and seizing on the mattress. The blood blisters lining her throat from breathing in acidic air her whole life had finally burst. Liam pulled the covers up over her when she stopped moving, pressed a kiss to her forehead, and left.

The next ten years he scavenged through the wilderness. Occasionally he ran into other people, occasionally he found a pond of water that had naturally filtered out most of the toxins. Most of the time, he slept in the dirt, curled in on himself as he ran through his mother’s stories in his mind.

“Liam,” he could sometimes still hear her voice, echoing through the trees, through the brown fog that wrapped like sap around everything in sight. “Liam, don’t forget who you are.”

And maybe he slowly was forgetting who he was. More and more, Liam found himself groveling like an animal for scraps at a table whenever he ran into other people. Sometimes he would sit still for hours, staring blankly at nothing – his gaze unfocused on a dried up pond, at the blotted out sky, at the expanse of burnt out earth that he would have to cross eventually.

Liam was alone.

Until he wasn’t.

***

Every morning dawns the same on Earth. The sky goes just a shade or two lighter – a disgusting, mucky brown color that boils and rolls overhead as hot breezes push it along. This morning was no different, and Liam rolled over at the shift in darkness, hiding his face in the crook of his arm, squirming uncomfortably on his bed of branches and stones and that ratty tarp he’d found a couple months back.

Nature was alive and rowdy around him. He could hear the scraping of a boar pushing its way through the trees; two birds were screaming back and forth; another bird was hitting a stone against a bigger stone, as if its purpose in life was to annoy Liam.

He gave up on trying to fall back asleep. There was a twig tangled in his dirty, shoulder-length mane of hair, and it kept jabbing him in the cheek.

“I’m up! Are you happy?” He shouted up at the sky, throwing his arms wide, and glaring at the thick clouds. He looked over to his left where the wall of black spikes that were once living trees now stood guard; the boar’s russet hide flashed vividly in the otherwise brown and black scene.

To his left, a few feet from where Liam was laying, the ground dropped off into a jagged cliff that – if he fell over – would send him tumbling into a pit of tarry black, probably shallow, water.

He stood up.

The birds stopped their racket, the boar froze, and Liam sensed that there had been a shift. He silently stooped down to fold the tarp up and stick it in his shabby knapsack.

A warm breeze washed over him, heavy and suffocating with the scent of sulfur. A second wave blew over him, but this time it came from above, reeking of something that Liam couldn’t quite identify, and it was accompanied by a painful shrieking sound and a cloud of brown dust that swept over everything.

Liam stumbled backwards, wiping at his eyes as they watered from the combination of smells and dirt, and holding his ears that ached from the intensity of the sound. His foot caught on something, and he fell.

Arms wheeling, sucking in mouthfuls of putrid air, Liam readied himself to either plummet to death over that god-awful cliff, or be stuck here on this torturous cliff of smells and sounds.

Luckily, neither happened.

“Woah!” A hand shot out of the dirt cloud, fisting in Liam’s shirt and hauling him forward, back onto his feet and solid ground. “You almost took a tumble, buddy.”

Liam blinked a few times, coughed to get rid of what felt like a dirt clod in his throat, and then he squinted at the arm that was connected to the hand.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he expected, but it wasn’t an arm that was paler white than any skin Liam had ever seen. Scanning up the arm to the shoulder to the face, he was greeted with more surprise. Pale skin, blue eyes, blond hair, and a _smile_. Liam couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually seen someone smile.

“Oi, you okay?” The boy in front of him leaned closer, wiggling his eyebrows in what Liam thought must be concern. His hand was still tangled in the front of Liam’s shirt.

“I’m fine.” Liam pushed the boy away, and swung carefully around him so that he was no longer backed up to the cliff’s edge. “Where did you come from?”

That smile really never went away; Liam wondered if he’d ever seen someone smile for so long. The boy pointed back over Liam’s shoulder. “That, buddy. I think we might be a couple years late, you know, but – hey, I figure, better late than never, right?”

He reached out to pat Liam’s arm again, but Liam pulled away and frowned. Slowly he turned to look over his shoulder.

In the exact spot he’d been sleeping just minutes before, there now resided a strange shiny, glowing tube. Or at least, that’s as best as Liam could describe it. He’d never seen anything like it, and in that moment more than ever, he wished his Mumma was there to see it. He wondered what she’d make of it.

“What, um, what is that? Exactly?” Liam cleared his throat, feeling that dirt clod again, although now he was suspecting it was something more like fear.

The boy _laughed._ Liam startled at the loud, unfamiliar sound.

“That, buddy, is –“

“Can you stop calling me ‘buddy’? M’names Liam.” He frowned.

“Alright, Liam. So, _that_ ,” he pointed at the weird tube thing. “Is my ship. Spaceship. I bought it and this planet a few years back. I suppose I waited a bit too long to come check out the property, huh?” He scratched the back of his head and turned to look out over the cliff. Down below, there was nothing but rocks and dead trees, brown and blackened earth. “It looked a lot better in the photos.”

Liam frowned. “What?”

The guy spun around again and smiled when he saw Liam’s face. “You know, if you keep frowning like that, your face is going to get stuck that way.”

Liam glared.

“Maybe it already is.” The guy mumbled. “So, Liam, buddy – sorry,” he clapped his hands together. “I probably should’ve properly introduced myself. I’m Niall, a Virgo, blond is not my natural color, and I own Earth.”

“You – You own Earth? How is that possible?”

Niall leaned in conspiratorially, and whispered, “I’m not from around here. Like, several galaxies away, actually. Earth is a very profitable planet. Or, well, it used to be.” He looked around again, the smile falling slightly. “So yeah, I bought it from a friend of mine, and Bressie always has liked his jokes. He must’ve known Earth was tanking. That explains why it was so cheap.”

He pulled a hand up to his mouth and began nibbling on his thumbnail.

Liam noticed that his fingernails were peculiarly clean. Sure, everything about Niall was peculiar, but his nails were trimmed short and neat, glossy and clean. Liam’s, contrastingly, were scraggly and caked with dirt and blood; he shoved his hands into his pockets.

“Niall! We’ve got to get go-“ Another guy’s face appeared out of an opening in the glowing tube that had previously not been there, Liam was sure of it. “Wow this place is nothing like the pictures.” He whistled and then disappeared.

Liam was frowning again. Niall laughed, “That’s just Harry. C’mon, Liam, grab your bag.” His clean hands patted Liam’s shoulder, and this time Liam didn’t stop him.

“What do you...?”

“You’re coming with us, yeah?” Niall was already halfway back to the ship, but he turned to grin at Liam. “I’m not leaving you here. C’mon, buddy – oops, sorry again.” He grinned and held a hand out to Liam. A pale, glowing, clean hand.

Liam sighed, placed his filthy hand on the other boy’s, and let himself be led to the tube.

Up close, it glowed even brighter; it had a rainbow-like sheen where it was white, but every other color too. And the surface was perfectly smooth, no seams for doors or that hole that Harry had stuck his head through. “How do you get inside?”

Niall winked, “Watch this.” He pressed his hand to the side and a blue light appeared inside the wall, running over the spot Niall had touched. The light vanished, and Liam watched as a silver line appeared, splitting the surface of the tube, spreading into an opening just big enough for them to fit inside.

“Welcome to mi casa.” Niall stepped inside.

“And _mine_.” Harry appeared then, slipping in beside Niall, with an arm around his waist. “Nice to meet you. I’m Harry, an Aquarius.” Harry, Liam discovered, was a tall, lanky young man, with curly brunet hair down to his shoulders. A pink grin was coupled with dimples, ever cheerful.

Liam stepped inside. He felt a strange cool _whoosh_ of air as the door sealed behind him. “I’m... Liam.” He looked around curiously, his eyes focusing on the interior of the spaceship he’d stepped into. It was certainly larger than he’d expected. And there was an actual living tree inside. “What is this?”

The tree was at the center of the domed room; its roots reached for the ceiling while the branches – laden with weird leaves that Liam had no chance at identifying – were touching the floor. Its black bark stood out in extreme contrast against the pearly walls and the spiraling silver staircase that wrapped around the room.

“This is the Control room.” Niall answered, stepping away from Harry to touch Liam’s arm. “I should probably go start it up. We need to leave before the glow attracts anything else.”

“You do that. Meanwhile, I should take you to the MedBay. Liam.”

Liam pulled his eyes away from the roots of the upside down black tree. Harry was staring at him with obnoxiously green eyes. “What?”

“I’m taking you to the MedBay.” Harry repeated, brushing a tendril of his dark hair back over his shoulder.

Liam frowned (Niall sighed), “Why? I’m not ill.”

Niall walked backwards towards Harry again. “Not that you know of, but you might be. From what Bressie told me before he sold Earth to me, the planet’s full of diseases. And that air was shit, Liam. Harry’ll just check you over, give you all your shots and everything.”

Come to think of it, that feeling of a dirt clod was still resting in the back of his throat. He nodded. “Alright. Lead the way, Harry.”

“Take him to the Observatory when you’re done!” Niall called after them, and Liam looked back just in time to witness the blond jogging up the silver stairs, running his hand along panels in the wall that flashed blue or yellow, sometimes red.

“Come on, Liam.” Harry encircled Liam’s wrists with long fingers, and tugged him through one of the several doorways that led from the room. The hallway on the other side of the door was jet black. Well, the walls and the floor were; the ceiling was a long stretch of that same glowing material as the exterior of the ship.

Liam paused for a moment to marvel at it. It was so different than anything he’d ever seen before.

Harry, on the other hand, strutted down the hallway, dragging Liam along behind him. “You’re a filthy mess, so we’re going to have to power shower you before I can do any tests, or whatever.” He tossed back over his shoulder.

“I should be offended by that.” Liam hurried to catch up, so that his shoulder wasn’t aching.

“Should be, yeah.” Harry nodded and pushed against a panel that was a slightly lighter shade of black than the rest of the hallway. The door swung open into another white room; this one was filled with metal tables, strange machines, and a weird glass box against one curved wall. “Welcome to the MedBay. Please strip off your clothes and step into the box.”

He startled. “’Scuse me?”

A grin slowly spread across the brunet boy’s lips. “You need to shower off, buddy. Naked, now.” He waved towards the strange glass box.

“Do you have to watch?” Liam asked as he paced over towards it, fingers peeling up the hem of his grimy shirt. To his pleasure, Harry laughed and turned his back. Liam quickly pulled the shirt off, and slipped out of the rest of his mucky clothes. The inside of the box fogged as soon as Liam stepped inside, and he must’ve made an alarmed sound because Harry’s voice was coming through a hidden speaker, soothing him.

“It’s a privacy measure, Liam.” His voice clicked off for a moment. “I’m going to start the shower now, so you should take a deep breath. Close your eyes and mouth, too.”

He did as instructed, and no sooner had he closed his eyes than water, boiling hot and making him hiss, shot out at him from all sides. Top, bottom, right, left. It felt like it was bruising him, but at the same time, he could feel weeks of grime sloughing off of him.

When it all stopped, he sucked in a breath of heavy, humid air.

“You all right in there?” Harry’s voice came over the speaker. “There’s a towel right outside the door. Come out when you’re ready.” He clicked off.

Liam’s muscles felt loose from the heat and the massaging assault of the water, but he managed to stumble over to the glass door and push it open.

A large, dry towel was folded just where Harry had told him it would be, so Liam quickly grabbed it and wrapped it around himself.

A sharp whistle echoed around the room as Liam stepped fully out of the shower, his chest glistening. Harry was sitting a few feet away beside a table covered in a cushion. “You clean up nice, Liam. Come over here.” He patted the cushion.

Liam flushed, but did as told, tugging the towel tighter around his waist.

The younger man shifted into a completely different personality; he left behind his goofiness in favor of a much more serious Doctor persona. Liam laid back on the cushion, allowing Harry to methodically check over him, running his hands down Liam’s spine to check for imperfections, shining a light in his eyes, and more.

But when Harry pulled a shiny needle out of a drawer, Liam shrunk away.

“What is that for?” He asked, lifting a hand to hold Harry off.

“Gotta give you some vaccines and stuff. They’ll keep you from getting sick. There’s some nasty diseases floating around in outer space, Liam. You don’t want to catch them.” He waved the needle. It glinted evilly in the light.

Liam frowned at it.

“And I need to draw a bit of blood.” Harry’s green eyes searched Liam’s paling face. “Just to do a few tests and make sure you’ve not already got any bad stuff in there, you know.”

His frown deepened.

“Get it over with.” He held his arm out to Harry, closed his eyes, and turned the other way.

There was a pinch in his arm and a slight burn, but then Harry chuckled. “All good. Just ten or fifteen more to go.”

Liam let out a whine, and resigned himself to getting stabbed by a hundred tiny needles until Harry was happy.

***

“Wasn’t so bad, huh?” Harry laughed, one hand resting on Liam’s back as they wobbled down another jet-black hallway.

Liam was missing a dozen vials-worth of blood; both of his arms, one half of his butt, and a thigh ached from injections, and the clothes Harry had found him felt too stiff against his skin.

“Where are we going now?” Liam grumbled. They’d just passed through another empty circular room; its walls had been eerily black – different from the rest of the dark hallways. Liam was glad to be out of there.

“The Observatory, like Niall suggested.” Harry gripped Liam’s arm and tugged him towards a doorway. He stepped back, leaving the way open for Liam, and then he gave him a light push out into the Observatory.

The feeling was strange, like stepping out into open air only to discover that you’re not falling. Oh, that was exactly that was happening.

Harry laughed at the sight of Liam’s expression – surprise mingling with fear – and he said, “It’s glass Liam. When we take off you’ll be able to see everything. The stars and stuff. Bet you’ve never seen them.”

Liam looked down between his feet. The floor was clear, so he could see where the orb was resting in the grass, where the russet boar was standing just inside the tree line, staring mesmerized at them. Liam couldn’t believe this. Less than an hour ago, he’d been sleeping in the dirt, now he was on board _a spaceship_ , getting ready to go on an intergalactic adventure with two guys who were really quite strange.

If only his Mumma could see this, see what he’d become, where he was going.

_She would never believe you, Liam._

“Where are we going?” Liam asked, taking another careful step further into the vast glass orb.

Harry shrugged. “Capricorn probably. Don’t know which planet, though.”

“What’s Capricorn?” Liam asked, spinning back around to face Harry.

“It’s a galaxy cluster. I believe the ancient people of Earth named star shapes after the clusters. All the great people in your history were in some form of communication with ‘aliens’ at some point, even if they didn’t really know it.” He crossed the few steps between them and dropped his hand onto Liam’s shoulder.

The glass underneath their feet vibrated, and Harry grinned, “Niall’s initiated the take off.”

“What does that mean?” Liam looked back out at the world. Even the wall and hallway they’d just come through were transparent, looking out to the outside world.

“Means we’re leaving Earth behind, and if you keep watching you’ll get to see Earth fall away, and for the first time ever you’ll see above the clouds.” Harry clapped Liam’s shoulder, and Liam felt his knees go a bit weak.

He was leaving. For good, probably. He was doing what no one else had done.

The floor rumbled again. He grabbed onto a laughing Harry. Slowly, at first, the orb began to lift up off the ground, and Liam watched as the russet boar ran back into the trees, several birds took flight. Soon, they were above the spikes that had once been trees, and then he could see the cliff and the ground at the bottom of it.

“This is insane.” Liam laughed, flopping down so that he was pressed flat to the glass. “I’m really going.”

A brown cloud enveloped the orb, and suddenly he couldn’t see anymore, nothing but the brown haze.

“Liam, look up,” Harry spoke from above him. He rolled over onto his back, looking up at the domed ceiling. The brown was ebbing away from the top, revealing blue. A bright, beautiful shade of blue.

No words could escape him, only a sigh at the first sight of true beauty in his life.

It was the sky, open and free of the pollution that plagued the Earth below. Liam stared and stared and gazed in wonder at how _much_ sky there really was. His perception had really been limited.

The orb rose higher and higher and then they were in space. The sun was a big ball of light off to their right; the moon glowed dimly straight ahead.

“Amazing,” Liam finally sighed, closing his eyes tightly, burning images of the two celestial spheres on his retinas, and imprinting them into his permanent memory. It was more than he’d ever dreamed over, more than his Mumma had ever dreamed of.

“We should get back to Niall.” Harry said softly, reaching down to help Liam back to his feet. “You’ll have plenty more time to see space, Liam. We’ll be traveling for a while.”

Harry took him out a different door than the one they’d entered through. It was the longest hallway yet, and when they reemerged into the light, Liam sucked in a hungry breath at the sight laid out before him. A kitchen.

The signature curved walls of the room shifted through the spectrum of shades of blue. The white floor tiles reflected the color changes, as did the row of cabinets stretching across the midpoint of the room.

“Come on,” Harry wrapped a hand around Liam’s arm and tugged, dragging him around to the other side of the cabinets, revealing a silver arc of a food prep counter and Niall with a large bowl in his hands.

Liam’s stomach growled, drawing a laugh out of the two other boys.

“Time to eat, buddy.” Harry patted Liam on the belly and walked the rest of the way over to Niall, who was pouting.

“So he can call you buddy, but I can’t?” The blond made eye contact with Liam over Harry’s shoulder. “That’s not even fair, maybe I shouldn’t give you any of this food.”

But Liam had grown up in the wild. Liam had not had anything to eat for three days now. Niall’s words meant nothing to him; he growled and stalked forward, snatching the bowl out of his hands and scooping up a handful of the orange mush that was inside, and promptly shoved his face into it, licking it out of his hand like a beast.

It was delicious: salty and sweet. Liam hummed happily and scooped more and more of it into his mouth.

When he was finished, contentedly full, he looked up to the space men. Both of them ogled at Liam like he was the strangest thing they’d ever seen. Harry looked a bit disgusted, honestly.

“You ate half of it,” Harry whined, grabbing the bowl back and quickly walking to the other side of the counter from him. “Ni, make some more!”

Niall was stuck staring at Liam, his hyacinth blue eyes wide. “You’ve got a bit –“ He rubbed a finger over his own chin and cheek.

Liam quickly scrubbed his clean hand over this mouth, the rough texture of his beard scraping against his skin. It came away filthy with the orange stuff he’d just inhaled. Something about that, and the fact that Niall was still staring at him, snapped him out of the wild instinct he’d fallen so easily into.

“I’m sorry.” He apologized. “I didn’t – It’s just been a while since I ate. You were joking. I’m sorry.”

“You’re alright, Liam.” Niall turned back to Harry. “Why don’t you make us something to eat, Hade? I’m the Captain of this ship, why don’t you be our chef?”

Harry grinned. “I do love to bake.”

“In the meantime, while you whip something up, why don’t you and I, Liam, go give you a bit of a trim?”

Liam quite liked his hair. That shower Harry had forced him into had even managed to tame the wild mane a bit, and even now it hung damp against his shoulders. When Niall pulled open a drawer and pulled a pair of scissors out, Liam recoiled.

The blond held his hands up, “Woah, hey. Can we at least cut down on your beard a bit? I’m pretty sure you’ve just deep conditioned it with that mustante.” He nodded towards the bowl Harry was now eating out of with a spoon. “And, no offense, but you won’t exactly fit in where we’re going if you stay looking like this.”

“Where _are_ we going?” Liam asked for what felt like the twentieth time since meeting Niall.

“Rontheim in Capricorn. We need to restock the ship, and we can do it there,” Niall explained. “Now, please, can I get rid of your beard?”

Liam didn’t have it in him to deny Niall the pleasure of shearing his beard off, so a moment later the blond was shuffling him towards a seat at the massive black wood table on the opposite side of the cabinets.

“Just relax, Liam.” Niall patted his shoulder, snipping the scissors too close for Liam’s comfort. “I’m good at this.”

Liam closed his eyes, giving in the very last bit to the blond Captain in front of him.

***

The ship was eerily silent at night. Or, well, the Sleeping Hours. Night was kind of a distant concept out in space.

Liam couldn’t will his eyes to shut. His mind was still buzzing over the day’s course of events, and the ceiling over his head was swirling with glowing whorls that would have kept him awake even if he were tired at all. Not to mention, whatever it was that Harry had made for dinner wasn’t sitting well in his stomach.

He swung his feet over the low edge of the bed, hissing when his feet touched the cool tiles. They burned orange where his skin came in contact with it, marking his path as he tiptoed across the small, barely furnished room to look out the window. Not the large window that made up an entire wall and looked out into the empty center area of the Sleeping Facilities, but the smaller one that looked out into black space.

Just blackness. Some stars glimmered far off in the distance, but nothing was close by.

“It’s a lot emptier than I thought.” Liam mumbled to himself, pressing his fingertips against the oddly warm glass.

He turned back to face the room.

The walls and floor were a bare gray color, broken up only by the two black-framed doorways, each with a fogged pane of glass in the middle. One led out to the rest of the ship, while the one that was set in the wall perpendicular to it was opened into the private bathroom.

Liam had spent two luxurious hours in there earlier testing the bath (which he’d never gotten to experience before) inside a large black tub. The other part of luxury Liam hadn’t ever had before was the bed. It was large, oddly circular, and so soft that he thought he’d slip right through it.

In total, there were three other pieces of furniture in the room: a chair, a wardrobe, and a mirror on the wall opposite the bed, beside the wardrobe. He caught a glimpse of himself right then.

Compared to the last time he’d seen himself – weeks ago in a broken pane of glass that left his reflection distorted – he looked naked. Already he missed the feel of warm cheeks and chin; the cool air of the ship was too much against his newly exposed skin. And he looked younger. Much younger.

A panel beside the door lit up, just a few shades lighter gray. Liam walked towards it.

He leaned closer as letters appeared on it. He squinted, and tried, but he couldn’t read it. In the mess of a world he’d left behind, reading was a forgotten skill. He’d only learned to write one word: _clean_.

Liam turned away from the panel, pacing back across the room in a trail of orange to the bed. Maybe he was feeling a bit tired.

***

Over the next few days, when Niall wasn’t busy captaining the ship, he was teaching Liam.

“The tree in the Control Room is from Semoll, Harry’s home planet. They only grow on the upside down cliffs of Skorwa.”

“The ship can’t jump through space unless it’s a really long distance, which sucks because, you know, now we’ve got to travel three weeks back to the Virgo cluster after our stop in Capricorn.”

Basically, Niall talked a lot, answered questions Liam didn’t even think of, and he laughed and smiled _a lot_. In between all of that, he managed to scold Liam for frowning so much.

“Look where I’ve brought you, Liam! Smile.” He extorted his own mouth. “At least once? Please?”

Liam let his lips twitch.

Niall accepted that, patted Liam’s cheek, and said, “That’s better.”

He showed Liam all around the ship. Pretty much. He took him though the library next door to the Sleeping Facilities, a large cylindrical room, with 75% of the walls being taken up by shelving jammed full with books in varying sizes and colors and languages.

The blond captain was clearly proud of the room, and Liam wished he could pretend to be excited, but when you can’t read and you’re suddenly in a room where the words outweigh you infinity to one, he just wanted to leave.

They went through the glass sphere of the Observatory again, and Niall pointed out that they were passing the Rosette Nebula and Ywlo, the drifting planet that fell out of the Milky Way galaxy a few hundred years ago, and has been floating just outside of it ever since with its strange race of inhabitants still living perfectly content with being drifters.

“And this is the Conservatory.” Niall swept open an invisible door of the Observatory that led directly into an oddly domed room full of plants. The steep walls of the room were steamed glass, paths of water had trickled down to create clear windows out into space. Some panes were lit up, resembling different intensities of sunlight; others remained dark.

“I’ve never seen so many plants.” Liam sighed.

As they passed through the room, winding through the maze of greens and purples and yellows, Liam’s fingers whispered over leaves, petals, branches.

Back on Earth, all the plants he’d ever seen had been crushed and brown, or blackened in the case of many charred trees. The Earth never had the chance to restore itself to the emerald green beauty his Mumma had told him stories about. This Greenhouse gave him ideas of what Earth could have once been.

“This is nothing, Liam. Follow me.” Niall pulled on his arm, leading him down another long, dark hallway, to a bright room full of clear cages.

Some were big, some were small, and some were making hissing sounds as they entered. “What is this?” Liam twisted around to get a clear look at a striped lump that was blubbering in the cage directly to his left. “Are these... animals?”

Niall nodded. “Best conservatory in the 13 Clusters! I stop at endangered planets and pick the animals they’re best known for. Board them onto the ship, keep them safe in the cages until we land somewhere that can take ‘em.”

“You’re not planning on doing that to me, are you?” Liam swallowed, tearing his gaze away from another cage where a tiny humanoid with bulging blue eyes was staring at him, gnashing its teeth.

“No!” Niall laughed, “I’ve got plenty of interesting creatures safe in this room. I don’t need any Earth humans added to the mix. One minute, buddy.” He shook his head and tilted it back to look higher, and Liam followed his gaze.

The room stretched up at least five more levels, each one filled with a minimum of forty cages. Silver staircases wound up a central column that sent out two branches at each level towards the ring of cages.

“Harry!” Niall shouted, his voice ringing around the room. Many of the cages went quiet, but some grew louder.

A dark head of hair appeared two floors up. “Yes, darling?” He pushed a hand through his mop of hair.

The captain grinned up, “Nothing, just wanted to see where you were. We’ll be in Rontheim soon, if my map’s right. You should probably clean the blood off your hands before we land. We don’t need a repeat of Eilbulla.” Both laughed, leaving Liam in the dark.

He shrunk back, looking into the cages around him. There were certainly some terrifying beasts – one looked like a puddle of black eyes, all pointed at him as it oozed across the floor and walls of its enclosure – but nothing was more terrifying than spinning around and finding Niall right behind him.

“Oh!” Liam jumped.

“Come on, buddy.” Niall dropped his arm around Liam’s shoulders, pulling him along.

“What happened on Eilbulla?” Liam asked as soon as they were out of the room.

The other man laughed. “Harry had just finished feeding one of our rather bloody meat-eaters in there, and we landed on Eilbulla which is a fairly decent planet manners-wise. Harry gets off the ship to go talk to a friend of his – he’s got friends everywhere in the universe, that boy – and someone notices his hands. They call the Eiba, which maintain their laws. He gets thrown in prison! They thought he’d murdered someone!”

Liam felt his traitorous lips twitch as Niall beat out another laugh, the sound so well-worn to Liam’s ears now.

“It took me two months to get to the head of the Eiba and convince them of the truth, and no sooner had I finished telling them the case than Harry was released on good behavior. ‘Absurdly good behavior’ is actually what the report said.” Niall’s smile was pressed into the back of his hand as if he could wipe it off. “Anyway, now I make sure to remind him to rinse the blood off before we land anywhere, lest he get arrested and set us back two months again.”

The two of them emerged from a hallway into a short, round, black room.

“What is –“ Liam began to ask.

“Map on!” Niall spoke.

When the lights in the room came on, they were in the walls, and a whirring noise filled the air. Liam had the abrupt and awful sensation of being spun around very quickly; he closed his eyes and sank to his knees.

Niall poked him with his foot. “Are you alright? Sorry, I forgot that you aren’t used to it.” Liam slowly opened his eyes, and swayed to his feet. “This is the Map room.” He gestured to the smooth wall that encompassed them.

It seemed to Liam, just from simple observations he’d made over the past few days here, that what he was looking out on the walls all around him was a map of the universe. Probably not all of it, but a lot more than Liam had known existed.

“This room’s my favorite.” Niall appeared as his side, holding a black panel in his hands. “You can search for anywhere in the 13 Clusters, and it’ll show up on the walls. A full 360-degree, panoramic view. It’ll be almost like you’re there. Amazing technology, really. Here, like....”

Niall squinted down at the thing in his hands, tongue stuck out in concentration as he poked at it. Liam looked away, scanning over the map laid out around him.

Suddenly, the walls shifted, the image blurred and brightened. Then –

“This is Gyn.” Niall cleared his throat.

Liam blinked as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. The first thing he noticed when his brain could make sense of the colors in front of him was that there were giant floppy plants that towered overhead. “What are those?”

“Mushrooms. There’re whole forests of them on Gyn.” Niall explained. “They were transplanted to my moon from another cluster eons ago, and they took to the soil really well.” His eyes had gone soft and damp as he took in the walls.

Liam spun around, both giving Niall a bit of privacy and taking a look for himself. They were surrounded by the mushrooms. “Is this where you’re from? Gyn?”

“Yeah.” The other boy answered. “It’s a moon of the Virgo Empire’s capitol planet. It’s actually been a while since I was there. Me mum and da haven’t seen me in years.” He sniffed and cleared his throat. “Anyway, I’m meant to be checking our course to Rontheim.”

Liam watched the image blur and shift again. This time they reformed into a closer image of the universe, depicting a glowing tube and a line of trajectory through the stars.

It was a small planet where they were headed. Very small, even by Liam’s limited standards.

“Right on track.” Niall cheered, tapped the panel in his hands, and grabbed for Liam before the walls went dark again. His voice pealed through the darkness, “Come on, we’re going to the Control Room.”

Harry was already in the room when they reached it. He was idly braiding parts of his hair, back leaned against the black tree. Liam noted that his hands were slightly stained red, and he also noticed that those hands were quickly shoved in pockets when Harry saw Liam looking.

“Should be there within the half hour.” Niall told the brunet. “Why don’t you take Liam to Oerus’s while we’re stopped. Show him a bit of his first foreign planet.” A wink was thrown Liam’s way.

For a brief moment, he felt his heart lurch with excitement. He would be the first human to step foot on an alien planet. Not even the Artemis missions, which his Mumma had said were the beginning of the end, had managed to get all the way there. All three had experienced full system failures shortly after passing the Moon.

“What if I can’t survive out there?” Liam asked, suddenly remembering what it was like to experience a lack of oxygen. He’d climbed high enough in some places on Earth that the air was thin, and he felt like he was dying. What if Rontheim was low on oxygen?

Both of the alien men snickered. “Oh, Liam,” Harry stepped forward to curl an arm around him. “You can survive on any inhabited planet in the Clusters. Every sufficient race has to use the same core elements to survive. Oxygen is a must for all of us.” He shrugged, “And even if it wasn’t, Oerus’s is to die for.”

Liam shivered at Harry’s words. “Can I go to the Observatory and watch the landing then?”

“You can do whatever you like, buddy.” Harry untangled himself. Liam quickly ducked back through the door.

It was different navigating the web of hallways by himself. Of course, it was easy to find the way from the Sleeping Facilities to the Kitchen, and from the Kitchen to the Control Room. It was a straight line.

The line of hallways from the Control Room to the Observatory was nearly straight as well, but the Maps room was in the middle, and that room was too dark to see anything. Liam spent a minute or two stumbling along the wall, feeling for a doorway. By some miracle, he found the right one.

Out in the Observatory, Liam was quick to discover that they were in some sort of planetary system already.

Several planets zoomed by as the ship hurled through space, traveling faster than any Earthly spaceship ever had. Niall had told him that over short distances, the ship could travel fast, but it couldn’t jump, which honestly made no sense to Liam, but neither did anything else that had happened to him since he woke up for the last time on Earth.

Very soon, Liam noticed that the speed at which things flew past was slowing down, and then, suddenly, he saw Rontheim. It was even smaller than the Map room had made it seem.

There was a sign being projected out from the planet, red letters shimmering in a hologram above the surface. He couldn’t read it, but it sure reminded him of the pictures he’d seen in a ratty old comic book – a bat symbol projected against the clouds as a call for a hero. It had been a silly tale, but even now the memory came back to him of vivid pictures and colors on the frayed pages.

He watched the descent, and felt his entire body slowing, and slowing.

The planet grew around him, the buildings growing larger, the lights brighter, and suddenly he could focus on specific things like people and other ships. He could see the color of the soil – a mustard yellow – and that the pattern that the buildings were laid out in was an intricate spiraling design.

“Woah,” Liam gasped, looking around the glass sphere into the world outside. “I wish Mumma could see this.”

Niall’d landed the ship in what seemed to be an area for a lot of ships to stay, refuel, and meet up with other space people. Liam felt the sphere shudder as Niall completed the touch down. A small cloud of dust bloomed around them, yellow compared to the brown dust that Liam was used to on Earth.

“Liam!” His name echoed through the ship. “Come on!”

Somewhat regrettably, he left the Observatory to return to the Control Room, to his two new friends.

Harry was standing near the wall, a bag strapped over one shoulder. He nodded when Liam walked into the room. “Ready for your big adventure?”

“I think I’m already on a pretty big adventure, Harry.” A band was shot at his face, and it was lucky that his reflexes were fast enough to snatch it out of the air before it snapped against his face. “What was that for?”

He shrugged. “Dunno. Thought you might want to tie your beautiful long hair back, Liam. Rontheim can be pretty hot in the summer months. Especially with the nights being as short as they are.” The space man’s hair was already tied up in two buns on either side of his head; he grinned at Liam.

Liam ran a hand through his hair, catching a glimpse of himself against the shiny side of the spiral staircase. He’d not let Niall touch his mane at all. Sure, it was down to his shoulders, and a bit permanently knotted in some places, but it had taken ages to grow.

“Thanks,” he grunted to Harry, reaching around to twist his hair up into a messy bun. He decided right then to keep the hair band; he liked his hair up, but he’d not had a hair band since a few weeks before Niall showed up.

A whistle cut the air. Niall slid down the railing of the stairs like it was a slide. “You look nice, Liam.” Harry coughed, seeking attention. “You look lovely too, Harold.”

Harry blushed at the comment. “Anything you need me to get while we’re going?”

“No, just _don’t_ bring back any girls this time. You know how they get when you accidentally taken them to the other side of the galaxy because you forgot they were here.” Niall’s eyes twinkled with humor, and Liam wondered what the story was there.

Harry harrumphed. “That was _one_ time, Niall! Let it go! I took her back, and as I recall you got a pretty good deal about me leaving you on that Libra planet while I returned her.”

“Be gone!” Niall shouted, his lips twisted up in a smile even as he pushed Harry towards the silver split in the wall. “Promise you’ll both come back in one piece tonight.”

“Promise.” Harry nodded, leaning in to kiss Niall’s cheek.

Liam let himself smile as he said, “I make no promises.”

And with that being said, he grabbed Harry’s hand and slipped through the ship’s door.

“You’ll need him to get back on board! Ship’s sealed without mine or his DNA signature!” Niall shouted after them. Liam waved as he and Harry vanished between two buildings.

The blond captain sighed and leaned back against the glowing exterior. He had work to do.

Behind him, the door made a soft _whoosh_ sound as it sealed shut, and Niall pushed off the ship, brushing past two other spacemen who stood nearby, and he headed south towards the pre-designated Meeting Place.

***

Liam couldn’t believe how different Rontheim was compared to Earth. The sky seemed perfect clear, almost like there was no atmosphere to pollute the sight of the stars. As he’d noticed from the Observatory, the soil was yellow, and now he found that it was very dry; each step produced a small cloud that rose up to his knees. They hadn’t gone far before the legs of his tan, skin-tight outfit were covered in the yellow powder.

Once he and Harry left the ship docking area, there were people everywhere. The air was thick with dust and voices, but that didn’t seem to bother anyone but Liam. He coughed after every second breath.

Harry kept his hand tight around Liam’s wrist as they weaved through the crowd, shouting comments back over his shoulder about the people and places that they passed.

“That’s a winab,” he kept his voice low as he pointed at a creature standing on two legs, covered in dark blue fur, with two bare breasts on display. Its face was quite human, save the four eyes and the fanged teeth it was baring at the other alien it was facing.

There was a Belie, “They’ve all got wickedly talented hands.” Harry winked and Liam knew that he would prefer not to know the story behind.

When a longhaired orange man brushed past them, his _tail_ briefly reaching up to caress Harry’s cheek, he explained, “Ghors. A very pleasure-based civilization.” Liam just barely caught a glimpse of one of the Ghors eyestalks winking at Harry.

Soon the colors and textures of all the different races that milled around them became too much, so Liam looked away.

The sky overhead was perfectly clear, looking out at the stars without a hint of the pollution he was familiar with. All light on the planet was provided by the obnoxiously large neon signs that jutted up to a mile into the sky.

“What is that?” Liam asked as he realized that there was a dull roar vibrating the air.

Harry turned around with a smile, “That’s Oerus’s Bar. Come on.”

Around the corner of a strangely dilapidated building near the center of the city, the earth opened up into what could have been mistaken for a sinkhole if there wasn’t such a din of voices and music or bright flashing lights coming out of it. A long line of people was wound around the top of it, leaning over a railing as they awaited admittance.

“Luckily, I’ve got a way in, buddy.” Harry nudged Liam’s shoulder and began walking faster towards the edge of the pit.

Liam looked up at the sky then, suddenly needing a breath of clear air when the crowd crushed in around them. High overhead, a sign was floating in midair, rotating around so that everyone in the surrounding galaxy could see that Oerus was open. The pink letters were vibrant against the black backdrop of the universe.

“Hey, come on.” Harry tugged on his wrist and Liam followed. They were making very little progress through the thick of the crowd.

Someone rammed into Liam from behind. He glanced back to see a creature with a flat face and burning red, deep-set eyes. It grunted at him and he moved closer to Harry, pressing him on faster as well.

“Madei! Hey, Madei!” Harry shouted to be heard, a difficult task in the clamor of the bar below. The arm he was waving overhead was probably to assist in visibility, Liam realized. Although he’d thought both he and Harry were rather tall, they were dwarfed in this bunch of aliens. Liam craned his neck to get a glimpse at who his guide was yelling at.

A winab was standing underneath an archway, all four of her eyes trained on them. “Harry!” She greeted as they managed to break through the line of the crowd, cutting to the front of the line, causing people behind them to shout in languages that Liam didn’t know. “What are you doing here?”

“On a trip with a friend or two.” He let her pull him into a hug. “Can you let us in? It’s my friend’s first time off his planet, and I thought I’d give him a look at what the rest of the Cluster’s have to offer.”

Her four eyes drifted from Harry to Liam.

He flushed under her gaze, suddenly aware of what an image he must be. A clear human with no experience of Earth, covered in dust.

Madei stepped out of the way, revealing a staircase down into the sinkhole. “Oh, of course. Enjoy. I’ll catch you later for a chat, Harry.”

To Liam’s amazement, the noise got quieter as they descended into Oerus’s Bar.

“The shape of the place amplifies sound,” Harry explained, slipping his hands again into his pockets. “It’s always crowded, but never enough to actually be that loud.”

A couple stumbled up the stairs passed them, one of them oddly resembling an upright frog.

Liam looked over the railing, down into the pit where the lights, music, and voices were still resonating from. The floor seemed to be writhing in the fluctuating rainbow that matched the shifting music. A narrow path cut through the crowd of dancers, straight towards a raised platform that housed a bar, several tables, and a dozen booths along the back wall.

The walls were a dense, dun-colored rock, covered in graffiti and scratch-marks spelling out words in languages that Liam didn’t understand. A few feet away, tucked into a small grotto, was another small platform supporting a man and a table that flickered with more lights than there were stars. A moment later, Liam realized that the man was the source of the pounding music that was slowly infiltrating his brain waves, creating a haziness to his vision.

He couldn’t decide where to settle his eyes.

The air was cloying with the scent of cinnamon and jasmine. A beam of red light sliced through the air, floating over their faces as Liam stepped onto the floor of Oerus.

“Yes!” Harry shouted, lifting his hands up in the air over his head. Something in him had shifted; his edges seemed softer, his eyes glowed brighter, and he was exuding a sense of purpose that honestly worried Liam a little bit. “Come on!”

Liam felt the breath leave him as they stepped into the crowd. Even the narrow path he’d spotted from above wasn’t free of their presence. The heat and smells and presences of some of these species of aliens were pushing out into the path, colliding with Liam, and introducing him to the wonders of the universe.

He felt eyes on him as he followed his guide up onto the raised platform that housed the bar, but he ignored the feeling in favor of ducking around to the back, and slipping into a booth. Harry sat down on the other side, grinning.

“Do you want a drink? It’s on Niall.” Harry twitched his hand and suddenly there was a slim white card between his fingers.

“I don’t really –“

Harry cut him off. “Of course you want something to drink, Liam. I’ll get you my favorite. You’ll love it.”

The boy was gone before Liam could insist otherwise, but at least it gave him a chance to look around and drink in the various occupants of the bar.

People were still trickling down the stairs from the surface, and even more people could be seen leaning over the rail to look down upon the lucky ones who made it in. Nearby, the tables were filled with men and women and others that Liam was unsure about – he saw winabs, Belies, Ghors, and other humanoids like himself and the two men that had taken him from Earth. There were still more that he didn’t recognize.

Harry crashed back down into his seat, two drinks in hand, each served in an odd, winding glass. Bubbles of green swirled through the tubes of orange liquid. Liam reached out to take one. He was curious about the drink. On Earth he’d only once drunk alcohol; who was to say that Rontheim alcohol was anything like Earth’s?

The glass burned underneath his fingertips, and he hissed, jerking his hand back.

“It’s hot. Did I forget to mention that?” Harry laughed, curling his fingers around one loop of the glass, and he quickly lifted it to his lips and poured it down his throat in one brief moment. His throat burned orange as the drink went down, and the corners of his lips held glowing drops of orange and green until he licked them away.

“Cheers.” Liam mumbled, following the same motions as Harry. The glass once again burned against his skin, but he pushed through the pain and tipped the lip of the glass to meet his mouth. It poured like lava, thicker than it had looked in the glass, and scorching down his throat. It parched instead of satiating his thirst. A bitter after taste of strawberries was left on his tongue.

“Good right?” Harry asked, cocking his head to the side.

Liam shook his head and smacked his lips, voicing his wish that he could have just a simple glass of water instead.

Harry laughed. “Nah, that acid’ll get you good and drunk, buddy.” He gathered both of their glasses and walked off again.

This time when he returned, he handed Liam a round bowl of blue. Pink flowers floated on the top, giving off a sweet, intoxicating smell like something out of a memory.

“This one won’t burn. I promise.” Harry sat it down in front of him, cradling his own orange glass of burning acid. Liam didn’t want to taste the new drink, but the last one had left his mouth drier than the burnt out deserts of Earth.

Harry sat staring at him, silently sipping his own drink, eyebrows raised at Liam in expectation.

“Fine,” Liam gave in, picking up the wooden straw and guiding it to his lips. “Only because my mouth is dry as the fucking Earth.” His words were mumbled against the straw, but still the other man laughed, clapping his hands together as Liam’s lips closed around it and sucked.

This drink was entirely different from the one before. Where that one had been hot, burning and viscous on his tongue, this one was cool, smooth, soothing over his sore tongue and throat.

He sighed after one mouthful. Most interesting was that it was flavorless. Really and truly flavorless.

“What is this?” Liam nudged one of the flowers around with his straw, barely daring to look away from the drink.

Erglaw was Harry’s answer, although Liam mistook it for a cough at first. “Refreshing, isn’t it? Best drink in the universe, really.” He took another sip of his own lava, and then turned to look out at the crowd oscillating on the dance floor.

Liam expected that Harry was done talking so he pulled the straw to his mouth again, prepared to drain the whole thing. The alcohol in it was already going to his head.

“What did you mean about ‘dry as the fucking Earth?’” Harry asked. Liam looked up, but his companion was still facing the crowd. “When Niall bought it from Bressie, he was told that it was one of the most water-filled, green planets in that galaxy. What changed?” He jerked back around abruptly, his green eyes wide and curious.

“It happened a long time ago.” Liam shrugged.

Harry leaned forward, not seeming to care that Liam wasn’t interested in sharing the story. “And?”

Liam took a final sip of the Erglaw, leaving the pink flowers floating against the bottom of the bowl. Harry was still watching him, licking his pink lips free of the green goo of his own beverage.

“My great-grandmumma was only 9 years old when it happened. I never knew her, or my grandmumma, or my father, so I only know the stories my mumma told me.” Liam twisted his straw around, dragging one of the flowers across the bowl in swirls. “According to Mumma, there was a big war. She called it World War III, but I only know it as the end, yeah.

“I’m the first person from Earth to ever make it past our moon. Mumma said that we used to send people off the planet into orbit around us, up to the moon, and then there were the Artemis missions.”

Harry sucked in a sharp breath then, and Liam looked up at last, wondering what in his story had incited such a response. But Harry wasn’t looking at Liam; he was looking at the bar. Someone had ordered a drink that looked to be about as tall as they were; the tall glass was filled with a layer every color of the rainbow.

“That’ll be a sight to see them finish.” Harry laughed, giggling even harder when the person tugged it off the bar and toddled over to a table where a few more aliens of its kind seemed to be laughing as well. He looked back over his shoulder. “Sorry, buddy. What were you saying?”

Liam shook his head, pushed the empty bowl of Erglaw away, and continued. “The Artemis missions were the first Earth-missions past the moon. Mumma said that there’d been robots sent to the red planet in the sky, and that some had just been sent drifting to see what else was out there. But the Artemis missions all failed, just out past the moon.” Liam held up three fingers for Harry to see.

He ticked them off, stating his next words as if from perfect memory. “The first exploded completely, supposedly because a bolt hadn’t been screwed tight enough, and it came loose as they passed by the moon’s gravity. It had been in a crucial enough part of the ship, that the whole thing was compromised.” One finger went down. Liam wiggled the second around as he said, “Artemis II went dark. No transmissions came from it, none made it there. Eventually, the Earth had to accept that once again something had failed.”

“And the third one?” Harry asked, leaning forward slightly, and pushing his glass out of the way like Liam’s.

“Artemis III made it the farthest yet, but it still didn’t make it anywhere close to Mars. This time the astronauts and the team on Earth were ready. Everything on the ship was being closely monitored in both places; the astronauts were all in space suits and they had an escape pod that would be able to get them back to Earth.” Liam shook his head and dropped the third finger. “It exploded again. But this time, like I said, Earth had been monitoring every single detail of the ship. They knew if an air particle went slightly astray.

“It took them two weeks to realize what had caused this third failure, and they suspected it had been the cause of the other two Artemis failures as well.”

A loud whooping sound came from the other side of the bar, hidden from their view.

Harry leaned closer, brushing his fingers over the back of Liam’s hand. “What was it?”

“One of the countries sabotaged it. They paid off a man on the teams of all three Artemis launches, and he made sure that shit went wrong.” Liam leaned back into the cushion of his seat. “Accusations began flying, lines were drawn and promptly crossed, and the final world war broke out.

“There were so many bombs, Mumma said, that they blew the Earth’s crust to bits and the dust was sent into the atmosphere.” Liam tapped his fingers against the tabletop, glanced at his empty drink, and then cast a longing look at the bar, but he continued with his story. “The world economy failed when the dust cloud didn’t settle. Crops couldn’t grow, and by then the world was running on solar power, so very few people even knew how to get power like humans of old did. Within five years, the world’s population had been decimated by the continued wars, the famines and droughts.

“That was something like 130 years ago, so since then the Earth’s only gotten worse. Did you really see it when you landed?” Liam turned his question to Harry. The other man shook his head; his buns bobbled on either side. “There’s nothing green anymore. Every tree, every plant has been burned to blackened ash. The water collected the rubbish from the air, so it’s no longer drinkable. The air is toxic; it’s what killed my mother. All the years of breathing the air caused blisters in her throat and they finally burst one day, flooding her lungs with poisoned blood.”

Harry nodded, startling Liam out of his story. “I noticed that you had some when I checked you over that first day.” He explained, running his own long fingers over his neck as if to make certain that he was still healthy. “One of the shots I gave you then should’ve taken care of them.”

His hand dropped to the table and he pushed up from his seat. “I’ll go grab us more drinks. Niall will probably want us back soon.”

Liam didn’t think they’d been gone for terribly long, but in a place like Oerus – he glanced around as the dark walls, flashing lights, and the miscellaneous alien races he’d found in his company – time seemed like a very flexible thing.

He was just picking at a stray piece of thread on his tunic when there was a commotion up at the bar. Liam looked up.

“Ghaaaaaaa!” Cried a reptilian creature, pounding its fist against the bar’s surface as a small man beside it tilted one of those dreadfully tall glasses back. This time, the glass was certainly bigger than the man, but that didn’t stop the stranger from downing the entire drink in one long draft. Liam watched on, impressed that someone could put back that much alcohol in one go.

The glass was slammed back down and the man raised both hands in victory. His toffee hair glinted as a ray of pink light shone over them from the dance floor; a radiant smile swept around the bar, but Liam noticed that it landed on Harry who was waiting and watching with his own bemused smile.

Another glass, this time much smaller, was sat down in front of the man. He picked it up and sidled around the bar until he was standing beside Harry. Liam watched carefully, noticing how the stranger had to tilt his head back to meet the taller man’s eyes.

He couldn’t hear anything they were saying over the din of the bar, but Liam had eyes, and that’s how he realized that his companion was hitting on the small man. Harry was leaning in, grinning, and every now and then he nudged the man’s arm. Liam barely even minded that he’d been seemingly forgotten, just amused to watch.

Back on Earth, Liam had only ever seen men and women engage in the rituals that led up to sex. He’d never engaged in such things, too focused on his own survival to waste time seeking pleasure in someone else.

Now, watching Harry and the stranger interact, Liam began to wonder if his lack of interest on Earth had been due to a lack of fascination with women. The small man stretched up on his tiptoes to stick a decoration from his drink into one of Harry’s buns. Liam couldn’t help but wonder if Harry was interested in bedding the other man presently.

Niall’s words echoed in his head, reminding Harry not to bring back a girl to the ship. _Again._ Liam frowned. If Harry was interested in the small man, why would he have taken women back to the ship before? Even more importantly, did Niall’s rule still apply? The man technically wouldn’t be breaking that rule.

Liam waited another few minutes, in which time Harry’s glass of lava was delivered along with Liam’s and another small glass of whatever the stranger was drinking.

“-I didn’t mean to! The robes just burst into flame!” The stranger was saying through laughter as Liam approached. Neither of the men looked up, not even when he drew even with them.

He cleared his throat. Harry finally broke the gaze of the other man.

“Liam!” His mouth dropped open. “I’m so sorry! I forgot about you!” He grabbed the Erglaw from the bar and handed it over. “Here, sorry. I was just talking to, um, my friend.” A smile was passed towards the stranger.

“Right, but didn’t you say we’d need to be returning to Niall soon?” Liam reminded him. He twirled his straw through his drink, stirring the flowers, and then taking a long drink of it.

Harry’s smile dropped a bit. “Oh, right.” He looked at his own glass, and then tilted it back, downing most of it at once. His attention was back on the small stranger when he sat the glass back on the bar. “I’m really sorry, but I’ve got to be going. I had a lovely time chatting with you.”

A smile curled the smaller man’s lips. “It’s no problem. I should probably be going soon, too.” Harry reached into his pocket then, and drew out his card. The other man held up his hand. “No, please. Let me. You can pay me back the next time we meet. I’m sure that fate would have us meet again, Harry.” There was something warmer in his eyes than their cool blue color would suggest.

Liam shrugged. “You heard him, Harry. That’s very kind, and we should be going.”

Harry lingered only a moment longer, exchanging hushed words with the stranger, and then he darted ahead of Liam, pushing a path through the crowd of drunken aliens, and up the winding stairs. Madei was still working at the top, and she shouted after Harry in a tongue that Liam didn’t know. Harry responded the same, waved at her, and then grabbed onto Liam’s wrist before plunging back into the crowded streets of Rontheim.

***

Being back out in the open and endless depths of space set Liam on edge. He stood in the Observatory watching as they passed by a shining nebula, a bright star coming to life someone in its midst. Rontheim was already several hours in their past, but Liam’s thoughts dawdled in the streets on their return to the ship.

Harry had stopped momentarily at a street market, stocking up on foreign spices and ingredients that he claimed were offered in very few places for such a good price. Liam marveled at the sights and smells. He’d never seen so many foods of bright colors in one place without people going to war over them.

Niall had been waiting for them when they got back to the ship. His smile was light, floating over his face like a cloud when they approached. “Took you long enough! He didn’t force you to try that awful drink, did he, Liam?” He nearly punched Harry when Liam confirmed that he had, but he laughed it off and led them back inside.

The two space men were currently in the kitchen, preparing a meal for the three of them. Niall had asked Liam to check on the animals. Some of them would grow restless if the ship was in one place for too long. Liam had done just that, but the Observatory had called to him on his way back to the kitchens.

He still couldn’t believe that he was actually in outer space. It’d been days and he’d stepped foot on _another planet_ , yet the idea was still mind-blowing.

“Liam!” Niall’s lilting voice echoed through the ship, and Liam tore his gaze away from where another ship was hovering by, shooting at thousands of miles per hour in the opposite direction that they were headed.

Back in the kitchen Niall and Harry were sitting at the table, a large platter of something bright red sat in the center. “There you are! What kept you?” Niall asked, immediately leaning forward to tear off some of the food.

“Got distracted.” Liam sat down and grabbed his own piece of the red. “The animals are all good. There was this funny looking gooey one though that was hanging off its ceiling. I didn’t know if that was normal.”

Harry laughed with his mouth full. “Oh, Todd.”

Liam chose to ignore that in favor of taking a bite of the meal. It was strange. A combination between the tough meat that Liam was used to from Earth, and a softer meat that reminded him vaguely of fish that fell apart under his touch. “What is this?” He turned the piece he held in his hand.

“ _Akit misul_ ,” both of the other men answered.

“Soaked it in some of those spices we bought today.” Harry said, biting into his own piece. “It’s a delicacy on Swartha in Gemini. Common everywhere else.”

Liam ate his fill of the strange red meat, and excused himself from the table as soon as Harry and Niall started talking about some crop on a planet that’s name had to be something like Oogblher because it just sounded like a lot of gibberish to Liam. He took to wandering the halls.

One room he hadn’t spent much time at all in was the Sitting Room. It was a magnificent room. The first time Niall had shown Liam into it, the Earthling had been lost for words.

The walls were the typical smooth cylindrical shape, but covered with swirls of gold over a deep purple backdrop. A large column of fire was settled in the center of the floor, and it stretched to the ceiling, licking at the cage there that seemed to filter out the smoke Liam was sure a fire of that size would create. In the flickering light of the fire, the swirls seemed to move like snakes, wiggling across the walls.

“That’s a fire from Xollehe.” Niall told him. “The planet’s known for it. The flames won’t extinguish until the fire inside the core of the planet goes out, or so rumor goes. It won’t burn you either, if you touch it, but it will keep you warm.”

The fire was the place where Liam retired to now. There were only a few chairs in the room, and he took one closest to the flames.

Staring into the flames was something like watching a room full of dancers, wrapped in red dress, and gilded in golden light. He was mesmerized by the swirling of the flames toward the roof, and the longer he stared the more he realized there was music filtering into his mind. Long trills of flutes, shorter flourishes of string instruments. The dance he’d imagined truly came to life.

Liam didn’t realize he’d fallen asleep until Niall was shaking his arm and pulling him from the fantasy he’d found in the fire. The captain of the ship led him quietly to his bedroom, tucked Liam into bed, and went on his way again. Liam just smiled and pulled the covers higher as he fell back into his dreams of a ballroom full of fantastically dressed dancers.

***

A loud groaning sound echoed around the room, and it took Liam a full moment longer to realize that it wasn’t just the single room making the noise, but the whole ship. He jolted out of bed.

Niall and Harry were already sprinting down the hallway ahead of him, squeezing quickly through the door to the Kitchen and on into the Control Room. Liam followed, wishing that he’d remembered to at least pull a shirt on. Cool air was trickling in from somewhere, sending ripples of goosebumps over his exposed torso.

“What’s going on?” Liam shouted, pushing in through the door to the glowing Control Room. The usually pale walls had gone a bright vivid red, every tile of the wall the same color as that dish of _akit misul_ Niall had made for dinner. The trees leaves were rustling against the floor, creating a din like a thousand hissing snakes.

Harry had his hands on the trunk of the monstrous black tree, fingers tracing shapes, and his lips moving quickly with words that were softly spoken. The blond captain was up the spiral stairs, tapping at one panel on the wall; his movements were jarring, spastic, panicked.

Liam repeated his question.

“We’re being boarded!” Niall shouted, his voice echoing around the dome. “Someone’s caught us in a beam.”

“They can’t do that.” Liam frowned. “Can they? I thought you said that you had to authorize a DNA signature for someone to be able to enter the ship?”

Niall shrugged. “I may have lied about that.”

Before another word could be spoken, a shrieking sound split the air. A silver streak of light appeared on the wall a few feet to Liam’s left.

A door was opening in the outside of the ship.

“Shit!” The captain nearly fell over the railing in his hurry to get to the floor.

Liam turned, curious of who would be invading Niall’s ship, fearful of what would happen to the three of them. He watched the door finish sliding open, bright white light bled into the ship from the other.

A boy with short, vivid blue hair stepped through the shell of the ship, hands tucked into pockets, and a torn white leather jacket hanging off his shoulders. “That was a lot easier than I thought.”

“Would you believe I spent an hour attempting to seduce that boy just to break in here?” A smaller boy with chestnut hair held off his forehead by a pair of green goggles followed the first inside.

“Hey!” Harry cried, and it was then that Liam realized the smaller boy was the one that had been flirting with Harry at the bar. “I quite liked you.”

The begoggled boy looked up, blue eyes going wide as he startled.

“Did you not expect to see me here?” Harry asked, leaping down from the tree’s trunk. “It is my ship, _Louis._ ”

Both the blue-haired boy and the flirty one were staring at Harry, his loose curls in a wild halo around his head, and a fierce scowl on his brow. “This is the boy you were telling me about?” The taller stepped forward, folding his hands together behind his back as he did so. “The one with the silly hairstyle?”

Liam spotted Niall out of the corner of his eye, edging towards the invaders while Harry continued to distract them.

“You thought my buns were silly?” Harry pouted, glancing away from the blue-haired boy to address Louis, who was smirking back without any shame.

“This is no time for self-consciousness, Harry,” Niall growled, stepping up beside him. “And it’s my ship, so what the hell do you think you two are doing?”

The first invader barked out a laugh. “I’m taking over your ship, mate. It’s classy, and worth billions on the proper markets.” He looked around the Control Room, his gaze drifting over Niall and Harry, the black tree, and finally it came to rest on Liam. He still stood out of the way, shirtless and sleepily confused, arms crossed over his chest.

He raised one blue eyebrow, bronze eyes panned down Liam’s body momentarily, and he licked his lips. “Lou, lock them up, will you - all three of them - while I commandeer this fancy ship?”

Before Liam had a chance to react, to turn tail and run back down the hallway in an attempt to save himself from capture (it would be futile, he realized), the small Louis had his arms caught behind his back and was pushing him towards Niall and Harry. They were all quickly bound together; Louis was stronger than he looked.

It all happened in a blur.

“Hey, Zee.” Louis laughed after fastening the bindings on Liam’s wrists, “What’re we going to do with them?”

Liam looked up from the pale floor, his sleep-addled brain lagging behind everything that was happening. The blue-haired boy was climbing the silver spiral, running his fingers of the panels, watching them shift color beneath his touch.

There was something about the set of the pirate’s shoulders – because that’s what he definitely was, a pirate who was stealing their ship – that drew Liam’s attention. The man was broad and slender simultaneously, with fine features that were darkened by stubble on his jaw and a certain quirk to his lips.

“They’re coming with us, Lou.” His voice echoed around the domed room as he turned to look down at them from high above. “A ship this nice needs a crew, doesn’t he?”

Liam watched as the man traced his fingers over the silver rail.

“Where are you taking us, then?” Niall asked, oddly polite even as he struggled, tugging against his bindings.

“Hmm,” the blue-haired pirate turned back around, pressing his fingertips to a panel. “Your path is to the Virgo cluster, I see. That’s a good enough destination as any.” He turned back, staring down at them. Liam shivered under the force of his gaze; his bronze eyes felt like they were boring into Liam and Liam alone. “There are many prizes to be won in Virgo.”

Beside him, Liam felt Niall twitch, and a socked foot knocked against Liam’s.

“Look, let me introduce myself to you.” The pirate swiftly descended to the floor, stepping softly over towards them. “I am Zayn, a Capricorn, and your new Captain.” A smile like poisoned honey brightened his face. “Give over to me, and I’ll let you free again.”

Niall struggled again, somehow managing to get to his feet. Louis stepped forward, raising his hands threateningly, but Zayn stopped him. “You’re keeping us on course to Virgo?” Niall asked, twisting his arms around in their bindings.

The blue-haired man nodded. “Yes. I know all about your plans there, and I want in. Well, no, because I don’t want to share. I’m commandeering your plans as well as your ship.” He spun around on his heel and headed back towards the staircase. “I’m done with you three for now. Please leave.” He flicked his fingers, and Louis moved, yanking Liam and Harry to their feet, and giving them a shove towards the door.

Harry hissed something under his breath in a tongue that Liam didn’t understand. Louis jolted, lifting his crystalline eyes to meet the more ferocious green ones. “Move, you _eidot.”_ Another shove was given and Harry reluctantly started off along the path towards the dorms, Louis shepherding him along.

Liam obediently followed, casting one last look over his shoulder at the pirate before the doors slid shut behind them. The pirate was already watching him, his lips twisted into a wry smile.

Those golden eyes haunted what little slip he managed to find the rest of that night.


	2. Chapter 2

Niall was cooking. That’s the first thing Liam realized as he walked into the kitchen, still rubbing his wrists to get rid of the sore feeling left over from the bindings that Louis had just removed.

“How do you like your eggs?” Niall asked.

“Uncaptured.” Liam muttered in reply, throwing a glare over towards where Zayn – annoyingly blue haired and cool looking – lounged against the wall beside the door to the library. In a clearer voice, he gave his real answer and took a peek into the pan on the stovetop.

Those eggs were nothing like Liam had ever seen before. Two of them were frying, while another few were scrambled together – the yolk was a dark green, almost black, and the rest was festive green.

Liam was about to ask if Niall was sure they were actually edible when Harry walked through the doorway from the dorms, Louis at his side.

Normally, Harry was an odd sight to behold, but today was even more different. His long hair was loose around his throat, tight black pants clung to his legs, and his torso was almost bare save for the white wolf hooded vest that he was wearing; its fur covered his entire back and shoulders, and fangs gleamed from the top of Harry’s head.

“Good morning!” He spoke, cheerful as ever. “Oh, good! We’re having eggs.” He sat down at the table and folded his hands, patiently waiting for their meal to be ready. No one said a word, and he didn’t seem to notice the strange stares he was getting for his choice of wardrobe.

Finally, Liam spoke up. “Harry, um, what the hell are you wearing?”

Louis snorted out a laugh from where he was still standing just inside the doorway.

“It’s a wolf, Liam.” Harry replied, adjusting the way the fur rested against the sides of his chest. “What are you wearing?”

It was a normal enough question, but Liam looked at his own outfit as if offended. He wasn’t sporting any odd apparel, or anything even slightly out of the ordinary as far as he was concerned.

A pair of dark purple, soft cotton harem pants were hanging in folds from his hips. The sweatshirt he had on over top was a plain gray one that he’d found folded at the bottom of his wardrobe. “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?” He asked, raising his eyes from his outfit to the wolfish boy standing in front of him.

Harry shook his head. “Nothing, Liam, but it’s official now that we have to stop by Nialm in Leo.” At Liam’s subsequent frown, Harry added, “It’s the fashion capital of all the clusters. They’ll be able to help you.” He frowned and shook his head at Liam as if he was seriously disappointed in Liam’s comfortable outfit.

All talk of fashion dropped as soon as Niall declared breakfast was ready.

“Everyone come sit at the table.” He demanded, bringing the large pan of strange eggs over to sit in the center of the dining table.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Liam saw Zayn slinking out of his corner of the room, quiet and leonine as he took the seat at the head of the table. One that should’ve been filled by Niall. Liam felt his Earthly animalistic side rising up, forming a growl in his chest.

Something of it must’ve shown on his face because Niall stepped in front of Liam then, pressing a hand to his chest. “Relax, Liam. Zayn’s in charge of the ship now. He gets to sit in the Captain’s seat.” He spoke in a soft voice that wouldn’t carry the few feet over to the table.

“How can you let him?” Liam replied, taming his voice into a similar whisper. “This is your ship, and you’re just letting him take it over without even putting up a fight?”

Niall shrugged, encircled Liam’s wrist with his fingers, and led him over to his seat at the table. “The ship let him onboard. I figure that means that he’ll be alright to fill the seat of captain.” Liam’s confused from dragged another sentence from Niall. “You don’t actually need authorized DNA to board the ship; that was a lie. You just have to be worthy enough, and I guess it decided Zayn was worthy.” He shrugged.

Liam took his place at the table, but Niall’s words didn’t settle well with him (or maybe it was the bizarre eggs). And again, later in the meal, when Zayn spoke up, his voice sharp and clear in the quiet, Liam felt his stomach roil uncomfortably, but at least it wasn’t him that the words were aimed at.

“Harry, can we talk?”

“We’re talking right now.” Harry didn’t look up from his plate, scooping green egg onto his fork.

Zayn’s gold eyes drifted around the table, before returning to Harry. “Come with me after you’re done eating.” Authority weaponized the already sharp edges of his voice. Harry had no choice but to accept.

“You can come with me,” Louis’s voice was like silk, sliding against Liam’s ear when the smaller man dropped a hand to the Earthling’s shoulder. “I want a tour of this place.”

Liam cast a quick glance at the shifting blue of the walls. “Niall –“

Louis shook his head. “Nope. You.”

A small jolt of heat burnt through the shoulder of his sweatshirt and Liam fell out of his seat in his rush to escape the pain. The sleeve of his sweatshirt had been singed in the exact shape of a handprint.

“Oops. Sorry.” Louis waved his fingers at him, a mockingly apologetic smile twisting his lips.

Liam pushed off the floor and shook out his arm that was still throbbing with pain.

“What the hell was that?” He spat, steering clear of the shorter man.

“He’s from Eilbulla.” Niall spoke aloud. “The whole planet’s full of fireburner’s.”

Louis wiggled his fingers again, and this time Liam saw a flicker of flame over his skin. “Yep. Now come on, Liam.” His fingers brushed lightly over Liam’s shoulder again, and he jumped to his feet to avoid being burned again.

He followed the bizarre man out of the room, but not before he met Zayn’s eyes. There was something deep, searching about that look that Liam didn’t like; he shivered the feeling away as he and Louis disappeared into the dark hallway towards the glass orb of the Observatory.

“Tell me about yourself, Liam.” Louis demanded, reaching up to adjust the goggles on his head. “Where are you from? What are your hobbies? All that kind of stuff. Family history, and so on?”

“Why should I tell you anything about me?”

Liam knew that he was probably being a bit too stubborn, but at the same time he knew that Louis was one half of the due that had taken control of the ship – not that Niall seemed to mind – and were probably going to sell them into some deep-space slavery. He was a bit bitter, and didn’t really feel like gossiping about himself to the small, fiery stranger.

He pushed the door open at the end of the hallway and stepped out onto the clear glass floor. Louis was a breath behind him.

“I’m nosy, what can I say.” Louis’s fingers whispered heat through the back of Liam’s sweatshirt. “I’ve actually been told it’s my best quality. Other than my blazing personality.” With a snap of his fingers, he revealed a small yellow fire in his palm. He held it up just an inch in front of his eyes. The proximity to his fringe had Liam tense in anticipation of the other man’s hair going up in flames.

A second later the fire went out.

“Come on,” Louis spoke, “Get talking.” He walked across the room, to the far edge of the orb.

From Liam’s vantage point just on this side of the doorway, it truly looked like Louis was walking out into the universe. He watched a planet with half a dozen moons pass by, and wondered if it was inhabited. He wondered if there was anywhere in the universe where a planet existed just like Earth had once had.

“I come from a small planet called Earth.” Liam finally spoke, giving in to Louis’s wish. “I don’t know what the galaxy is, or what Cluster. I didn’t know anything about space until Niall and Harry showed up to take me away. I’d never seen the sun or the moon or the stars until then either.”

The other man half-turned towards him. Liam continued.

“The Earth I left was a far cry from what it used to be at its height. I don’t have any hobbies, Louis, because all that was left of my planet was dust and darkness and survival. If fighting to live counts as a hobby, then that’s what mine was. After my Mumma died, I had to get really good at that hobby. I was still a child, but I was alone, and the others living on Earth weren’t so forgiving of my innocence. It wasn’t until she was gone that I realized how much she’d been protecting me.”

“Did you not have a father?” Louis asked, interest reshaping his voice although he kept his attention on the glass in front of him.

Liam shook his head. “Not that I ever knew. And if Mumma ever spoke about him, I don’t remember.”

Louis finally twisted all the way around to face Liam. “Interesting.”

Really, Liam didn’t see anything fascinating with his story. Not up until Niall and Harry had shown up, anyway. In all of space, his story might have succeeded in being the least interesting, and yet –

“Come on, show me more places. Tell me more about Earth.” Louis turned to the door to their left, the one that led to the Greenhouse.

Liam followed, sighing as he recanted all of the stories he could think of.

***

The ship was docked. Liam didn’t know where, but that’s what the panel beside his bedroom door said when he tapped the blinking button.

“Ship docked. Please remain in your quarters.” The voice was that of a female, which slightly startled Liam, as he’d expected a male since it was an all-male ship.

He ignored the voice’s request and pressed a hand to the door’s handle, wanting only to go eat. It had been a long morning of showing Louis around, and avoiding the small fires the man had decided to start once he’d begun growing bored. Now that he’d napped off that experience, he just wanted to eat.

As soon as his skin made contact with the handle, there was a loud beep and a flash of heat burned against his palm.

He let loose a cry of pain and jumped back, cradling his hand to his chest.

The screen beside the door blinked from black to white, and then it was filled with an image. An image of Zayn’s face to be exact.

His obnoxious blue hair filled most of the screen, but the rest of his face made it in as well. Somehow the screen almost seemed to better define the sharper parts of his face, while softening such things as the pout of his lips and the curve of his brows. His gaze was still more of a golden glower, though, so Liam pushed all other thoughts out of his mind.

“Can you not read or listen, Liam? You’re not to leave your room.” His voice hissed through the speakers.

“Actually, no, I can’t read. And you can’t just trap us here! Niall owns this ship; he’s not your prisoner.” Liam spat back at the blue-haired pirate.

Zayn grinned, catching Liam momentarily off-guard by the dazzliness of it. “No, he’s not. That’s why he’s not locked in his room.” His face vanished from the screen, replaced by an image of Niall standing beside Louis, leaning over an extended wall panel in the Control Room.

“Harry’s not locked up either, before you ask.” Zayn’s voice came through the speakers, but his face didn’t reappear. “I’ll have one of them deliver you something to eat in a while once we’re no longer docked.”

“Where are -?”

The screen blinked off, and Liam was left alone in his tiny dormitory, utterly bored. His stomach rumbled.

There wasn’t anything to do except sit and wait. Luckily, the walls offered some entertainment. Orange dots swirled across the walls, spilling across the ceiling like stars, and Liam laid back on his bed to enjoy the sight.

His door cracked open some time later, and the savory scent of roasted meat came in on the cool draft of air.

“Well, don’t just lay there.”

Liam bolted upright. Zayn was standing in the doorway, holding a tray burdened with a plate piled high with meat and bread. His hair burned gold from his scalp, and Liam blinked, wondering if perhaps it was a trick of the light.

The pirate walked towards him; his hair remained the same bright shade of gold, so that was no mistake.

“Eat.” He deposited the tray onto Liam’s lap. “I’ve got plans for you.” He retreated to the chair on the other side of the room, folding himself into it with a smile and his gaze fixed upon Liam.

The hunger gnawing at his belly was too much, yet just enough to distract him from questioning the pirate about everything from his odd hair to the whole lock-up situation. He picked up a piece of meat and practically inhaled it before taking another and another. When the plate was empty, only a few tough scraps left, Liam looked up to find Zayn was still staring at him, watching as Liam licked his fingers clean of the grease and sauces.

“What do you want?” He spat, pushing the tray off to the side.

Zayn folded his arms across his chest. “There are a lot of things I want, Liam. Fame, family, a home.” His gaze flickered away from Liam for a moment, and then, “You said you can’t read. Are you serious about that?”

Liam nodded. “There was never a reason to learn on Earth.”

They lapsed into silence; Liam was intent on cleaning his fingers – this time with a cloth napkin – and Zayn was content to observe the actions. The ceiling hummed overhead, the orange swirls dragging over the otherwise plain ceiling between them.

“I’ll teach you to read.” The pirate spoke so quietly that it was nearly consumed by the silence. “It might not have been important where you came from, but here in the Clusters, reading is a vital skill.” His eyebrows drew as a crease formed between them like a valley they were sinking into.

Liam considered turning down the offer. He was too old to be able to learn now, and even if he wasn’t it would take ages to pick up all the skills he needed to understand the letters and the words they formed. But when he looked up from his lap to deny the pirate, Zayn was already staring at him, his sinking eyebrows and bronze eyes were imploring Liam to say yes.

So perhaps there might be a few benefits to agreeing to Zayn’s proposition. For one he’d be able to spend more time with the admittedly attractive space man. Even as Liam thought the words, Zayn’s lips cocked to the side and he ran a hand through his lustrous hair.

“Fine.” He sighed, pushing the tray off to the side as he moved to stand up.

Suddenly Zayn was before him, impeding his path. “Fine? You want me to teach you?” Liam nodded. “Brilliant!” Zayn clapped his hands together, a pure expression of delight filled his face, and he seemed altogether transformed.

Liam wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but a moment later he found himself entering the library at Zayn’s side. The walls were still filled with an intimidating amount of books; the shelves loomed high overhead, and for the first time, Liam wondered how one was meant to retrieve the books from the top.

“Come on.” Liam was too bewildered by the conundrum of top-shelf books to fight when Zayn grabbed his wrist and tugged him over to a silver, slightly-raised platform.

As soon as they’d both planted their feet on it, the platform began to move, rising up through the air, along the right wall, up to the level floor at the top of the shelf. Liam was amazed at the sight of even more books.

“Niall said that the easier to read books are at the very top.” Zayn murmured. The platform rose again to a second level, once again filled with shelves upon shelves of books, only this time there was a small opening where a few comfy chairs and a table were situated. Zayn pushed Liam towards the seats. “Sit. I’ll find a book.”

His golden hair vanished between the shelves before Liam could say another word.

The chairs were arranged in a tight semicircle around the single, round wooden table. Liam settled in the one at the center of the arc, letting the soft cushion conform perfectly to his body. It carried a scent that Liam hadn’t even realized he knew until the nostalgia kicked in. He couldn’t even identify what the exact source of the smell was.

A rose, blooming in the desolate wasteland.

A piece of meat, freshly fried over a friendly fire.

A warm hug from his mother, her soft smile pressed to his cheek, and her hair a crazy man framing her face.

Liam sighed and closed his eyes, letting all of the images and sensations brought to the forefront of his mind, wash over him. He forgot that he was sitting in a library on a spaceship, awaiting the return of the beautiful space pirate who was going to teach him to read. He forgot that there was even such a person as Zayn. He forgot everything, relaxing into the moment and the sea of nostalgia that overwhelmed him in that moment.

The other man seemed to already be halfway into a sentence by the time that he returned. “ – be easiest. Of course, the ship’ll do half the work, but then again...”

Liam startled, drawn abruptly out of his mind. He cleared his throat, “What?” and say up straighter.

Zayn blinked at Liam then twisted his hand around to reveal the book he’d chosen. “This is a children’s book from the biggest author in all of Sagittarius. We’ll start out with it.” He held it out to Liam, who gingerly took it, turning it over as if he’d never beheld such a thing. “You should pick up reading fairly quickly, Liam.”

The boy looked up at his name, brown eyes wide at the sudden realization that he was sitting alone with the man that he’d despised not twenty minutes before. And he was letting him teach him to read. “Why do you say that?”

“The ship.” Zayn shrugged. “Haven’t you wondered why you’re able to understand almost everyone you’ve come across? The ship does something to your brain chemistry. Makes you capable of understanding most of the tongues in the Clusters, except those that are, like, really different. The Qass of Moure in Leo barely understand their own language, so it’s no wonder that none of the ships in the universe can translate their tongue.

“Reading should be about the same. I can read almost any language in the Clusters, so I figure it might help bolster your non-existant reading ability.” Zayn took the book back, and flipped through the first few pages which appeared to be nothing but ink drawings. The first page was written in letters that Liam recognized from Earth, but he knew nothing more than that.

Zayn chose the chair beside him, and pulled it impossibly closer so that he was leaning into Liam’s space, his body casting a shadow over the spread pages of the book.

“Do you recognize any of the words? At all?” Zayn asked.

For the first time Liam realized that his voice was cast low. He was whispering as if there was someone else in this library that they would be disturbing. _Where are the others?,_ Liam wondered then. _Are they in the Control Room, the Kitchen?_ He looked over at Zayn through his eyelashes.

“Liam?” Zayn nudged him.

“Sorry, I, uh.” He looked down at the page of words again. “No. Not really. I recognize that the letters are from Earth, but I don’t know any of them really.” He shrugged and pushed the book more towards Zayn, who just scoffed and pushed it back. “What?”

Zayn’s gaze softened, his words took on a simpler tone, “You can’t just push it away when you don’t understand it, Liam. You’ll never learn that way.” He leaned close again, and Liam caught a whiff of perfume, clinging to Zayn’s collar like a flower to a vine. “Come on, this is what we’re here for. I’ll teach you.”

A lump rose in his throat – so very much like that dirt clod feeling from the first day – and Liam swallowed past it, past the urge to keep staring at Zayn with the suddenly gentle features, with the suddenly tinting hair aiming more towards warm brown than gold. Liam nodded, lowered his gaze to the words, “Where do we start?”

***

Tiye was by far the most extravagant planet Liam had learned about. Sure, he’d only been in outer space for just over two weeks, but between all of his time spent in the Observatory and all of the time he was spending in the library with Zayn, Liam had picked up quite a bit of information about some of the better known planets in the Clusters.

He had poured over maps of distant star systems, read the names of planets that had been inscribed on the pages in a careful hand. Zayn had been so pleased with Liam’s rapid progress that he’d not even blinked an eye when Liam asked if he could come with them when the ship landed on Tiye.

The first thing he noticed was the air. It was clear. Not clear like it had been on Rontheim where even at night the stars seemed close enough to touch; no, the air on Tiye was clear of all pollution, making breathing the easiest thing Liam had ever done. The air tasted clean; each inhalation was like a gift of sweetness.

“It’s raining,” Louis grumbled, “Why’s it got to be raining the one day we’re here?”

Liam didn’t understand. The ground was dry. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Then he saw it.

Slight sliver of silver were falling from the empty sky, shimmering as they fell. One landed in Louis’s hair, another draped itself over Niall’s shoulder like a loose strand of hair. The ground was covered in the strings, he realized.

Another thing Liam was a bit slow to notice was the fact that they’d not landed in a populated city like they had on Rontheim. No, they were in the middle of nowhere.

Mountains as white as marble jutted up to their right, knifing the crystal clear sky, glinting in the light of the two suns that rose from the other side. Their exact shape was indistinguishable in the mixture of silver rain, distance, and sunslight.

“This is beautiful.” Liam sighed, stepping out of the cover of the ship to join the others under the rain of silver.

“Wait ‘til you see the people.” Niall nudged him, winked, and started off along a silver-covered pathway to the left, towards the mountains. Louis followed, and Harry ran off after them, slinging an arm around each of their shoulders. That just left Zayn and Liam.

The pirate took a step closer to Liam. “Don’t talk to anyone here. They’ll enchant you so that you never leave.” A shout from the other three boys drew their attention. “Come on. There are road signs along the way for you to practice reading.”

His fingers whispered across the back of Liam’s hand as he passed by. Liam’s whole arm twitched, but he quickly folded it over his chest and kept pace behind the other four.

The cool, clean air and the silver rain remained the same as the group trekked along the steadily climbing path into the marble mountains.

“Why did we have to land so far away?” Louis groaned after twenty minutes of climbing what was clearly a path towards the steep slopes of the mountains. “Why couldn’t we have just landed in the landing zone like normal travelers?” He was leaning heavily on Harry, having already asked the taller man for a ride on his back – twice – and been turned down.

“You know why.” Zayn mumbled from the head of the group. He ran his fingers through his hair; the dark silver strands caught the light, and a few lighter strands – the rain, Liam realized – came loose. “These people wait in the bays for travelers to entrap here. And they’ll ask about our business, which we can’t disclose.” His eyes flickered around every face of the group, settling at last on Liam’s confusedly frowning one.

“These people are called the Fye. They’re beautiful and poisonous and carnivorous. They feed off the electricity inside people,” He explained to Liam. “Once you partake of their food or drink or people, you can’t leave the planet. You don’t want to leave.” He shook his head. “The only way to get free is if the one who offered you the food or drink dies. The only problem with that is that the Fye live for thousands of years.”

Niall frowned at that. “I’ve never known anyone to get free of their master; I didn’t even know it was possible. I thought everyone who had been captured was just sucked dry of energy until they died.”

Zayn shook his head, turning his gaze to the ground as they continued walking. “No. It’s happened before.”

Silence fell over their small group as they climbed up the steadily increasing slope towards what appeared to be a black notch in the otherwise pale white side of the mountains. Niall fell in step beside Liam, behind Zayn. It was surprising that Niall managed to remain quiet as they walked, considering Liam had never really known the blond man to be quiet for any length of time.

When they were halfway up the slope towards the notch, Zayn slowed down and fell back to walk beside Liam. “Can you read that sign?” He pointed at a placard set into a large boulder on the side of the path.

“Well – come – to,” Liam said, slowly sounding out the words that wavered strangely against the gleaming white stone. “Big – By – Byglad – glade? Welcome to Byglade?”

Liam felt his skin flush with heat; he was embarrassed to stumble over the simple words. He ducked his head to kick at a small white pebble on the pathway.

“Is that what it says?” Niall asked, scratching the back of his head, brows knit together as he stared at the sign.

Liam threw a scathing glare at the other man. “Niall – “

“No, seriously, Liam. I can’t read it.” Niall admitted, glancing around at the others as well. Liam followed his gaze. Harry and Louis were frowning as they looked over the sign. Only Zayn wasn’t frowning. He was standing with his arms folded over his chest, a bemused smile on his lips.

“Only you can read it, Liam.” He stated. “Part of a Fyeian attempt to make sure that only certain people can come through this entrance.” He nodded up towards the dark cave. “Does it say anything else, Liam?”

Liam dragged his eyes away from the pirate, back to the sign. “Yeah, um, it does.” He took a few steps closer to it, hoping that he’d be able to make out the smaller letters better. “It’s instructions. It says –“

Something that felt like a hand clamped around his tongue, and the words caught in his throat.

“Don’t try to say them.” Zayn’s drawl brought Liam’s attention back away from the sign. “Another Fyeian thing.” He shrugged, and started back up the pathway.

“How do you know so much about the Fye?” Liam asked, glad to find that he was actually able to speak. He chased after Zayn, grabbing the silver-haired man’s arm when he caught up.

Zayn shrugged him off. “I’ve been around a lot of places. It comes with being a space pirate.”

_Well you’re not a very good one!_ Liam wanted to shout at the other man. _Pirates don’t look like you, aren’t as kind as you, and they certainly don’t act like you do._ Instead Liam sighed.

Louis had finally convinced Harry to give him a ride by the time that they arrived at the top of the path.

The cave loomed, dark and cool, above them. “Follow me.” Liam was the first to step inside, followed quickly by Zayn, then Louis on top of Harry, and lastly Niall who was muttering something under his breath about “tight spaces.”

In the stillness inside, Liam could feel the presence of the others as if they were all right on top of him. Zayn nearly was; his breath ghosted over the back of Liam’s neck. It was eerily silent, and far too dark for being just a few feet inside the cave. Liam inched forward, one foot in front of the other, and hands extended to prevent him from running smack into a wall.

“Liam,” one of the other’s whispered, “Do you know where we’re going?”

“Yeah.”

No sooner had the words left his lips than the cave was lit up partially. Hundreds of tiny lights appeared on the ceiling, trailing down the walls of the cave. Suddenly, it was much easier to see where they were headed. The cave continued on, relatively straight, for quite a distance before deadending at a massive door made of that same white stone as outside.

“See, now I see where we’re going,” Liam laughed easily, quickly spanning the distance to the doors. He pushed them open, and a sweetly cool breath of air swept inside.

The city opened up, blindingly white all around them. Palatial towers rose into the air, bridges arched impossibly high, and the balcony in front of them overlooked a wide, green plain.

“Welcome to Byglade.” Zayn sighed, stepping out past Liam. The pale light of the two suns hit him as he walked towards the balustrade, leaning against it to look down over the city. “We’ve got an hour, Niall. Do whatever you’re here for fast.”

Niall nodded. “Harry?”

Harry quickly dropped Louis off his back and turned towards the staircase that led down off the balcony into the rest of the city. Liam started after them.

“No.” Louis stepped into his path. “You’re gonna come with Zayn and I.”

He chanced a glance over at the silver-haired man. All he was given was a nod.

“Fine.” Liam sighed, slouching over to stand beside him, leaning against the balustrade as well. “Is there any particular reason why I’m not allowed to go?”

Zayn ignored the question, continuing to look down at the city that was laid below them. Every building was white, seamlessly constructed out of the mountainside. Far below, Liam could see people meandering around, but they were too far away for him pick out any features.

He looked over at Zayn.

The pirate was bathed in the warm, hazy yellow light of both of Tiye’s suns. His fingers tapped a pattern against the railing, and a basket of white flowers that hung from the ceiling overhead stretched towards his hand. Pink lips parted, cognac eyes flickered from place to place, sometimes settling in one spot more than others.

“Zayn?” A new voice spoke, ringing like a bell, sharp as a diamond.

Liam turned to the origin of the sound.

At first glimpse the Fye blended into the walls behind them, but upon a second glance, Liam could distinguish the shape of it – the shadows, folds of clothing, a faint trace of palest blue in their eyes.

“Dian?” Zayn’s voice dropped out from under him. Liam quickly darted a glance back at the man beside him.

The woman – Dian – stepped forward, a smile slicing through the white glass of her face. “It is you.” Her hand extended as she approached, and her fingertips were quick to reach Zayn’s cheek, tracing the shape of it.

Liam watched the exchange, silently wondering if this was one of Zayn’s past conquests – that was something pirates did right? They drifted from place to place, taking their pleasures wherever and with whoever they wanted before leaving without note?

Louis was standing back near the doors still, frozen in the moment, eyes wide behind his green goggles. “Zayn!” He finally barked.

As if coming out of a trance, the pirate jerked, tripping backwards away from Dian. He closed his eyes tight, and shook his head.

“Stop it, Dian.” He turned away, but Liam could see that his eyes remained shut. “I’m not here for long. I won’t be roped back in.”

Her smile curled, and her attention turned to the nearest thing: Liam.

“What about this one?”

He’d been wrong before about her being solidly white. She was every color of the rainbow. Her eyes were every shade of blue as they bored into Liam’s; her hair was a silver that shifted with every new touch of wind, and her skin was flushed with pale pink. Dian’s sharp edges were much softer than he’d thought. Her smile was beautiful, as radiant as every star.

“I’m Liam.” He felt himself smile as she slunk nearer to him, extending her hand towards him this time.

Warm skin, softer than a cloud brushed over the side of his face, slipping down his cheek to his jaw. She tilted Liam’s face up, and he watched as her beautiful blue gaze dropped to his lips. He unconsciously licked them.

“ _Liam_ ,” Dian spoke his name, and it sounded like a song. “ _Quae sunt regni tui_?”

He leaned in, her voice hooking him in.

 

“Hey!”

Suddenly Liam was on the other side of the balcony. Zayn stood in front of him, arms spread wide as if to prevent Liam from moving. His eyes were focused solely on Liam.

“What just happened?” Liam looked past Zayn to see Dian, languidly stretched along the balustrade, balancing on it, and gleaming in the sunslight. She tipped her head back and laughed at the sound of the question.

A hot hand pressed squeezed his jaw, and Liam looked back at Zayn. “She tried to enchant you. Didn’t I tell you not to talk to them?” Liam felt Zayn’s thumb pressed to the underside of his jaw, stroking the stubbly growth there. “That’s why you’re staying here with Lou and I. Niall and Harry wouldn’t be able to protect you from any Fye; they don’t have experience.”

“And you do?”

Dian laughed again from the other side of the balcony.

Zayn’s face flushed, and he took a step back.

Louis was standing there beside him, goggles lowered and posture defensive. “Put it this way: he just saved you from confinement.”

“Please go the fuck away.” Zayn growled.

It took Liam a moment to realize that he was addressing Dian. She laughed once again from her position on the bannister, and then she tumbled over the side without a second’s hesitation.

“I’m confused.”

“You should be.” Louis mumbled. “Those two better hurry up. I hate this damn planet.” He angled towards the doors.

Zayn returned to his former spot by the railing, a cigarette dangled from his lips. He didn’t look to be in the mood for any type of conversation.

Niall and Harry returned fifteen minutes later, carrying a strange box between the two of them.

“Finally.” Zayn straightened and flicked the cigarette over the edge. “Let’s go. I want to put this place as far behind us as possible.” He disappeared into the darkness of the cave before any of them could say another word to him.

***

The content of the box, Liam discovered was a creature comprised of mostly tentacles and spikes protruding from a gelatinous peacock blue body. A single eyestalk jutted through the rest of the tangled mass.

“It’s a Terips,” Niall told him as he pushed it into a cage three levels up in the animal sanctuary. “Never trust what it looks like. It changes.”

Even as he said it, Liam saw the creature change shape. Suddenly it looked like a small black bird; it’s beak curved down to the floor, narrowing at the end. When it opened it’s mouth to squawk at them, Liam saw rows and rows of razor-sharp white teeth, and instead of a tongue was a spike that gleamed a toxic shade of green.

“No matter what shape it is, that always remains the same: a poisonous green spike somewhere on it’s body.” Niall slammed the cage door shut and locked it with a code on the side. “Are you alright? I overheard Louis telling Harry about what happened while we were gone.”

Liam shrugged. “Sure, I mean. Zayn stopped it from happening, so I guess I’m fine.”

“Zayn’s done a lot of things to your benefit.” Niall chimed in, walking across the narrow bridge to the center column of stairs. “Teaching you to read, saving you from being seduced by a beautiful woman.” He grinned back over his shoulder at Liam.

“That beautiful woman would have trapped me on Tiye, Niall.”

Niall waved that off. “Yeah, but –“

“I have to go.” Liam spoke over the blond, running past him and down the stairs.

“Where are you going?” Niall shouted down the stairway. “We were just having a civil conversation!”

Liam lifted a finger to wave up at the other boy on the bridge, and shouted: “I’ve got a reading lesson!”

Niall’s laughter carried after Liam long after he’d passed through the doors towards the Medbay. He was grateful that the sterile room was empty as he passed through it, but the Control Room was filled with the sound of Harry’s laughter as he leaned his back against the smooth bark of the Black Silk Tree. Louis stood over him, grinning widely at whatever he’d just said.

Neither of them looked up as he cut through the room for the doorway to the Kitchen.

Zayn was rummaging around in the cabinets on the hidden half of the room when Liam walked inside.

His white leather jacket and the gleam of his silver hair matched the aesthetic of the room. When he removed himself from the confines of the cabinets, the blue Henley that he had on underneath the jacket matched the walls. Liam dropped his gaze to the floor.

“Are you ready?” Zayn’s voice was soft and lilting.

“Maybe.” Liam brushed his hair out of his face, wishing that he had a band to tie it back (or maybe he should take Niall up on that offer to cut the man off). “Depends on what you’re going to make me read. Not another boring text about the moon cycles on Swartha, I hope?”

The pirate shook his head, pushing a handful of snacks on Liam. “No. Something different.” He patted the pocket of his jacket, and it was then that Liam realized that it was bulging and a tiny corner of a black book was poking out. “Follow me.” He sauntered away.

They ended up sitting beside the Xollehe fire, spread out on the floor with a stack of books and the pile of snacks between them. Zayn laid out on his back, his head towards the flames, while Liam sat up and looked down at the small black book that he’d been handed.

 

Zayn covered his face with his arm, the firelight flickered strangely over his bare skin, mixing with the ink shapes. Liam forgot all about the book he was meant to be reading, distracted by the tattoos on the other man’s arms. Hidden amongst the tangles of numbers and swirled shapes, Liam caught sight of a woman. It reminded him of someone.

“So tell me how you know Dian.” Liam dropped the book back onto the floor with a soft _thump_. “Clearly you know each other, so how is that?”

“It’s a long story.” Zayn’s voice was muffled under the presence of the arm.

Liam scoffed, “We’ve plenty of time. Come on.”

A single amber eye peered out at him. “No.” He covered his face again. “Read your story, Liam.”

The book remained off to the side as Liam leaned forward. The curtain of his hair enveloped both of their faces. “I want to know your story, Zayn. I know next to nothing about you.”

“Don’t know much about Louis either. Why don’t you go bother him?”

“I thought you wanted me to read?”

Zayn sighed and moved his arm carefully away from Liam’s hair, just barely brushing the tips of it. “I want you to stay out of my fucking business.”

“Hey,” Liam frowned, but backed off, brushing his hair back over his shoulders. “Sorry.” He reached for the book again, pulling it back into his lap.

Another sigh came from the boy lying on his back. He pushed up onto his elbows and looked over at Liam. “Fine. I’ll tell you.”

_That didn’t take much prodding,_ Liam thought as he pushed the book away again, turning his full attention to the man opening up in front of him. The firelight was warm against the side of his body, painting both of them in golden and bronze hues. “Okay.”

Yet another sigh, then Zayn dove into his story.

“I was born on a planet called Caprusin, near to the center of the Capricorn cluster. Do you know anything about Caprusin?”

Liam shook his head, knowing that he’d heard the name somewhere in one of the volumes Zayn had had him read before. “Sorry.”

The Capricornian shrugged. “That’s fine. Caprusin is known for our amethyst core. Amethyst is good for storing energy, so that’s how the planet survives. When I was fifteen I decided it’d be a good idea to steal the main crystal from our local king’s palace. My older sister worked there, so she got me a job there easily. I took a few weeks to plan the heist, to get used to the layout of the palace and the schedules of the guards and everything, you know.

“The amethyst of the King wasn’t too big. Probably the size of my head, so just big enough to be considered something, but small enough that I could fit it in my bag. I remember thinking, when I first saw it, that it was ridiculous the level of fame that the one amethyst crystal had. At the same time, I knew that it had been passed down through the dynasty, and had been worn down, chipped away, and so on through all that time. I slipped it into my bag, escaped the palace during a change of the guards, and then I thought I was free.”

He shook his head and smiled bitterly over at Liam. “I wasn’t. Of course, a guard sounds the alarm about the missing Dynastic Amethyst as soon as I’m out the gates. I ran for it. I hid away in the woods for a while, but the guards found me. It turns out that the woods were a very predictable hiding place, not to mention the fact that after dark, the amethyst began glowing a bright purple, which was basically a dead giveaway. They caught me.

“I was dragged back to the palace, and imprisoned in the Prison Towers. They left me there for weeks with minimal food and drink. When they finally brought me down, I was taken directly to our King. My family were all there as well. My mum and Dad, my older sister, my two younger ones. The past few weeks, the only way I’d been able to stay sane was knowing that they wouldn’t hurt my family for my misdeed. I was wrong, of course.”

Liam edged closer to the man who was now exuding sadness. He let his knee nudge the older boy’s thigh. Zayn continued, “They were all punished there in the court room. My older sister lost her job at the palace. My parent’s shop in the town was taken away. My younger sister’s were left alone only because they were so young.” Zayn twisted a ring on his finger, a large silver one with a jagged seam down the middle. “I was given the worst punishment: banishment from Caprusin, effective immediately.

“I didn’t even get to say goodbye to my family. The King’s men bound me and dragged me from the palace. They took me to the space yards where all the spaceships would land, where all the trade commenced. They pushed me onto this Transporter ship, and the next thing I knew I was far, far away from my home.”

“That was almost ten years ago. I haven’t seen or spoken to my family since then. I haven’t felt the sand of my planet gritty against my skin, or felt the pulsing energy of an amethyst like a heartbeat in my palm. Those guards told me that my banishment was a permanent thing, and that if I ever set soul inside the atmosphere of Caprusin again I would be vaporized.”

“That’s terribly sad, Zayn, but that doesn’t explain anything about Dian.”

A sharp pinch from Zayn at Liam’s wrist, caused him to squeal and wiggle away. “I’m getting there if you’d be patient.”

Liam held up his hands in surrender. Zayn nodded.

“So, as a fifteen year old – which is an age of youth in most of the 13 Clusters – I had no way to survive without my family. I road the Transporter ship for as long as the captain would let me, and when I stepped off onto my first foreign planet, I was struck by the sight of it. We’d landed right in the middle of Byglade on Tiye. You didn’t get to see their landing sight, but it’s like none other, Liam. Young me was amazed at the sight.

“I didn’t have anyone to warn me about the Fye. No one told me that accepting food or drink or even such a simple thing as a kiss from one of the beautiful natives could trap you there on the planet for the rest of your life. No one told me that they could weave enchantments with just their eyes.”

Zayn’s gaze was fixed on Liam’s face, eyes following the path that still burned like ice into Liam’s flesh – the path that Dian had traced with her fingers earlier that day. He cleared his throat.

“I was approached fairly quick. They probably could’ve smelled the naivety on me. It was a female Fye – tall enough that her pale yellow hair seemed to brush against the sky, and strong featured, like a statue cast out of the very same marble as their mountains. I can’t remember what she said to me, except that her name was Koren and that her voice dripped like honey. I let her take me by the hand, and she led me away from the ships, from the crowds of people that probably would’ve stopped her. She took me to her home where she fed me, and told me that I looked like I’d not eaten in months, which she probably wasn’t wrong about. She pressed delicacy after delicacy into my hands, and poured their charmed version of wine into my throat until my head was spinning with the saccharine poisons and her words.

“I didn’t know I was trapped there. I just knew that I didn’t want to leave. Koren was good to me. She fed me, she gave me a bed to sleep in, a place to wash, and she made me feel safe for the first time since I’d escaped the palace on Caprusin. I was foolish, of course, but what boy of fifteen isn’t?”

Zayn’s eyelashes cast shadows across his cheeks, and Liam felt heat flush through his skin – although he wasn’t sure if the fault lay in the Xollehe fire or his own blood betraying him. “So that story you told us on the path earlier, that was -?”

“Mhmm.” Zayn nodded. “Koren was wonderful. I didn’t even notice that she was drinking my energy. When I was in her presence, I’d never felt better. I didn’t notice that I was dying, essentially. And when she invited her friends over, they drank my energy as well. One of those friends was Dian. She and Koren had a love-hate relationship, as many Fye do, but theirs shifted by the minute.

“It was in one of Dian’s hateful moodswings that she revealed to me what deal I’d accidentally struck when I was first taken under Koren’s wing. Previously, I’d not had any clue that I was stuck on the planet. I hadn’t wanted to leave, so how could I have known? But she told me. Everything. Her confession broke part of the enchantment that Koren had over me, and in the most gruesome revenge she could come up with for whatever wrong Koren had done to her, she told me the only way of escape.

“The confinement curse wasn’t broken enough that I immediately felt the desire to leave or to take her up on that escape plan. I was still content with staying with Koren. It helped that the passage of time was dulled while I was there. Part of me thought it had only been a few weeks that I’d been on Tiye. In reality, it had been just over three years.”

Zayn reached out suddenly, a hand darting forward to take the book that rested beside Liam’s hand. “What are you doing?” Liam asked.

“Have you ever lost track of time like that, Liam? Have you experienced the slippage of time, where all at once it’s speeding by? It’s like this,” He opened the book, flipping through the pages rapidly, his thumb dragging along the edges. “That time slippage is like this, like your life is the book, but you are the thumb and the thumb is also time, just barely brushing the edges of the pages. Never getting a deeper look at the story inside. That’s what time felt like for me on Tiye, and slowly as time passed, I began to realize it. I wasn’t remembering my life, and time was passing me by. I knew I had to do something about it, and that’s when I remembered Dian’s words.”

The fire licked at the cage around it, and Liam found his attention drawn to it. A bright, burning force contained within the cage. He wondered what it would be like if it knew it could be set free. Would it burn them all to a crisp? Would it burn the ship until it was just a barren shell?

Zayn’s next words caused Liam’s heart to leap, to squeeze painfully in his chest.

“I had come to love Koren, in one of those twisted versions of bonds formed by captivity. I don’t believe there’s a name for it.” He frowned as he thought about it.

“On Earth, we called it Stockholm Syndrome.” Liam suggested. “The victim gets emotionally attached to the captor, right?”

The pirate nodded, silver hair became fire. “Yeah, exactly. So, I’d become quite attached to Koren. The idea of physically harming her was awful for me, but I knew that if I ever wanted to leave Tiye, if I wanted to survive, it is what I would have to do. I was eighteen by this point, and by no means was I blind to the tactics some of the Fye employed to get visitors to stay on Tiye for them.

“I seduced Koren one night. It wasn’t difficult. It was something I wanted, and something she’d wanted but hadn’t taken without my consent. I’m not going to spoil you with the torrid details, Liam, but I exhausted her. She was dead to the world after I was finished with her, and then I – I, um, well, I finished her. I won’t give you the details of that either.”

Zayn closed his eyes and his brows drew tight across his forehead. His hands were shaking in his lap. Liam had never seen the pirate so weak; he wanted to reach forward and take his shaking hands, soothe him with words or touch.

“Dian must’ve been waiting for me to do it. She was the first Fye I saw, and she must’ve seen it on my face or she has some deeper intuition, but she tried to re-enchant me. Again, I ran away. I made it to the landing site, and boarded the first ship that was leaving Virgo. I didn’t plan on never returning to Tiye, but when Niall told me that there was an endangered species to pick up there, the pirate inside of me wouldn’t let that prize go.”

“And how did you become a pirate?” Liam asked.

Zayn grinned. “Well, that’s a story for another day, isn’t it, Liam? I’ve told you enough about me for one day.” He pushed up off the floor, and rose to stand tall over Liam. “I want you to finish reading that book. Tell me what it’s about by the end of the week. Maybe I’ll tell you the pirate story in exchange.”

Liam was very much tempted to stick his tongue out at the retreating back of the beautiful pirate.

***

Weeks passed by in the blink of an eye. Liam wondered if there was something to that theory of Zayn’s about the passage of time like the pages of a book. He couldn’t have said what had happened really between that lengthy story and his current day. All of the minor details had blurred together into one large mess of memory.

All Liam knew was that they were drifting somewhere through the Scorpio cluster, Louis and Harry were sleeping together, and Niall was fighting with Zayn on the spiral staircase of the Control Room.

They didn’t know he was there. He’d been hiding on the far side of the Black Silk Tree, facing the door, which was very rarely used (he’d never been through it, but he knew that he’d seen Niall coming out of it once or twice). He was hidden in the shadow of the trunk, surrounded by fluttering red leaves that did nothing to drown the voices of the feuding space men.

“Where are we going, Zayn? You know as well as I do that our original course was charted for Virgo, and yet here we are on the other side of the damn universe in Scorpio!” Niall was shouting, his voice ringing around the room.

Zayn’s reply came quieter, calmer, “I don’t want to go to Virgo yet. I can’t believe that you do either. There’s the whole wide universe, and there’s a whole lifetime to live, Niall. I’m not going to Virgo yet.”

The other man scoffed. “Right, okay. And you keep telling yourself that you’re not –“ His next words were muffled.

Liam chanced a glance around the wide trunk of the tree. Zayn was looming over Niall, a bare breath of space between them, and he had a hand clamped over Niall’s mouth. The contrast of skintones was something beautiful, drawing more attention to the dark ink that covered Zayn’s hands and arms. Also in stark contrast was the look of fear in Niall’s eyes against the burning danger in Zayn’s.

“You can keep your mouth shut. Alright? I took over command of this ship. Me.” Zayn removed his hand, but stayed just as close. “You’ve been cooperative until now, so I’ve permitted you and Harry to stay on board, but don’t think I won’t maroon the two of you on the next desolate planet I see.”

Even from across the room, and half hidden, Liam could see the twitching muscle of Zayn’s jaw. “On second thought, I might just maroon you. Louis would murder me if I sent Harry away from him. Don’t try to turn us off course again, Niall. That’s the final word.” He turned his back on the blond, descended the stairs at nearly a run, and vanished through the set of doors that led through the set of doors to the swimming pools.

Liam considered going after him, but his he didn’t want to give himself away to the still fuming Niall. A muttered “Bastard,” seconded that idea.

He burrowed down in the branches and waited for the sound of Niall’s departure.

It seemed to be hours later when Niall finally slipped out of the Control Room. Liam finally stood, stretching his muscles, his joints aching from sitting in one position for so long. He moved quickly for the hallway to the swimming pools.

It wasn’t a place he’d spent much time. Between the wonders of the Observatory and his busy attempts at learning to read, Liam hadn’t had much time for leisurely swims. Plus there was the fact that he’d not gone swimming since he was young and he and Mumma had found a pond of water that was just clear enough that he could climb in and wash some of the filth off. He still knew how to swim, but it wasn’t a pleasure-activity.

At first, when he walked into the chlorine scented air, he thought that Zayn had already left, wandered off to some other part of the ship to escape his argument with Niall. Then he saw him.

The swimming pools were in a magnificent room. Just like all the rest of the ship, the room was cylindrical in shape, but that’s where all similarities ended. The floor of the room was largely water. There was a ring of raised tile flooring that hugged the walls, but the center of the room was a deep pool. The walls of the room weren’t smooth like the other rooms; pools jutted out from the walls at varying heights. Some were small, shallow pools. Others were larger; one even let its water spill over the edge, creating a waterfall effect down into the main pool below. Narrow ladders connected each of the pools.

Zayn was sitting at the edge of the main pool. His white leather jacket was folded against the wall, his pants were rolled up above his knees, and he was swishing his feet around in the water, slumped over to watch the eddies they were creating.

He didn’t look up or even signify that he’d heard Liam enter, so Liam took advantage of that to sneak up behind the pirate.

“Boo!” Liam pushed Zayn’s shoulders lightly from behind, grabbing on just as quickly to prevent the other man from tumbling face-first into the water.

Zayn reacted just about as well as one would expect. Possibly even better.

He leapt up, spinning around with reflexes faster than anyone Liam had ever seen – save Louis who seemed to have super speed, Liam guessed. Half a second after Liam’s attempt at scaring Zayn, Zayn had his back pressed against the sweating tile wall of the room. His forearm was digging into Liam’s throat, his pupils were blown, and his irises were vacillating rapidly between deep brown and a violent shade of copper.

“Hey,” Liam held his hands up in surrender. “I’m sorry. I was just joking, Zayn.”

The vicious man in front of him seemed to wind up a little tenser then before suddenly relaxing, dropping back a step, and removing his arm from Liam’s windpipe.

“Don’t do that to me.”

“I apologize.” Liam repeated. “I didn’t expect that reaction.”

Zayn turned his back, but didn’t return to sitting on the pool’s edge. “I can’t swim. Of course I would react like that when someone threatens my life by shoving me into a pool.”

“Sorry.”

“Stop saying that.” Zayn groaned, turning around again.

Liam shrugged. “If you can’t swim, then why are you in here?”

“I like the smell. Why are you in here? Just to scare me half to death?” Zayn spat back, folding his arms tightly across his chest.

Liam laughed. “No, I heard you and Niall arguing. I wanted to come see if you were okay?” Zayn frowned at that admission of eavesdropping. “And maybe I wanted to go for a swim.”

The other man quickly looked Liam up and down. Sure, his outfit didn’t really suggest swimming; he was wearing a heavy wool coat, a pair of sharp metallic pants, and green boots. Harry had forced them to visit Nialm just so Liam could see what real space traveler fashion looked like, and that was apparently it.

“In that?” Zayn asked.

“No, of course not.” Liam replied with a smile.

As soon as his coat dropped from his shoulders to the floor, revealing the nearly invisible fishnet top underneath, Zayn’s face flushed, “Oh.” Liam kicked off his gaudy shoes next, and carefully climbed out of the pants. His barely-there top was the last to be added to the pile, and Liam wasn’t sad to see it go; it itched like a bitch. Zayn was still staring at him, taking in the sight of Liam’s bare calves and thighs, his toned abdomen, his...

His eyes shot up to Liam’s when the younger cleared his throat. “If you like, I could teach you how to swim?”

They both knew that the offer was much more tantalizing when one member of the party was already naked. Liam could see that Zayn was trying not to let his gaze drop below Liam’s chin.

“I’m fine.” His voice was strained. “I think I’ll go see if Louis and Harry are done being a couple yet.” Zayn ducked around Liam, grabbing his jacket from beside Liam’s pile of clothes.

“Don’t get your hopes up!” Liam called after him, his voice resounding around the room, magnifying it several times.

He dove into the water when he heard the door slowly opening – every door to the room stuck because of the condensation inside – and by the time that he surfaced, he was alone in the pools; the door was already slid shut behind Zayn.

Liam floated on his back, staring up at the ceiling overhead, at the bottoms of the other pools, and he contemplated things. Things like Zayn’s theory about the slippage of passing time. Things like Zayn and Niall’s argument. Things like Zayn.

He turned over in the water, immersing himself fully again.

The water wrapped around him like a warm cocoon. He could open his eyes underwater, see every edge of the pool, see the intricate mosaic of tiles on the floor far below him, and the less intricate designs that decorated the walls of this pool. Liam spun around through the water, twisting his arms and legs and hips until he felt like he was dancing, doing flips and pirouettes.

He thought about Zayn. The way that he’d acted when Liam had scared him. The way that he’d turned down the helpful swim lessons. The way that he’d fought with Niall, and stormed away after using that authoritative tone.

Liam sighed, releasing a long stream of air bubbles into the water around him.

Back on Earth, there were many things Liam hadn’t had. One thing had been the feeling of safety; he’d never felt safe enough to remain in one spot longer than a day or two, but now he’d been on board this ship for over a month, and it was finally beginning to feel like the first home he’d had in his live.

Another thing he’d never had on Earth was water like this; not to drink, not to cook with, not to swim in like he was currently doing. Having this much water in one spot was like a miracle.

A third thing Liam hadn’t had on Earth was desire. Each day dawned with the filthy sky overhead, reminding Liam that it would be just another day fighting for survival, scrounging for food, dying of thirst, dying of The Sickness slowly, slowly. He’d never had room to want anything. Nothing that didn’t matter, anyway. Of course, he’d wanted the things that he needed, but never more.

Liam had never had the same desires as the people he’d met on Earth. He’d never met a person and been struck by them in the way that made him want them. He’d seen it happen on Earth. Two strangers meet in the woods or on a mountain path or in one of the hundreds of thousands of burnt out cities, and they would feel an instant desire for one another. Liam never had that thing on Earth.

But now.

Now he felt that in his gut.

_Desire._

The pool water was warm, a soft comfort to him as he slid a hand over his chest, feeling the throbbing of his heart beat under his skin. He licked his lips and traced his hand down his chest, over his belly which fluttered at his own touch. Finally, his hand curled around the heart of his desire.

Liam sighed as his head broke the surface, and he sucked in a fresh breath of air. The doors were all closed, he was alone, and in his hand desire swelled. His eyes fluttered shut as he began to move his hand, stroking himself. Just a brush of a thumb over the head, a squeeze, a tug.

He sighed again, resting his head back against the side of the pool. The tiles underwater were cool against his spine.

“Buddy’o!” Harry’s voice echoed through the ship, jarring him, startling him.

Liam let his hand drop away with a groan. Harry’s voice repeated the call. Liam looked down into the water, to the distorted vision of his hardened dick. He closed his eyes, willing to mind the worst images he could muster, anything to make it go away.

He thought of the goopey creatures in the animal sanctuary. He thought of one of the skeletal creatures he’d seen on a planet they’d stopped in a week or so back. He thought of gutting a boar back on Earth. He thought of spikes protruding from a squirming creature’s white body.

He thought of another white body – a body encased by a white jacket.

“Fuck!” Liam swore, pulling himself out of the pool before his mind could get more carried away.

He gathered his clothes and hurried over to the drying vents that were set into the wall a few feet away.

He had just finished dressing when the doors from the sitting room opened and Harry stumbled inside, a wide grin on his face. It was quite clear that he’d been partaking in some form of alcoholic beverage. Likely that it was his favored Acidous, which he’d recently learned how to make himself.

“Liam! There you are!” He stepped across the floor as if they were on a boat, and when he was within a few feet of Liam, he burst out into laughter. “Those pants, man. Those pants! Love them!” Liam stepped forward quickly to prevent the giggling Harry from drunkenly falling into the pool.

“You picked them out for me, Harry.”

The brunet nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I know I did. Love them, like I said. ‘S just that they don’t hide much of anything. So they’re being pretty revealing right now.” He laughed again. “What were you doing in here before I interrupted?”

Liam glanced down and saw that Harry was right. Despite all the sharp angles of the pants, there wasn’t much disguising what he had going on still. “Shut up, Harry.”

That sent the other man into another fit of giggles even though he’d not yet recovered from the first.

“Don’t be embarrassed!” Harry squeezed the words between laughter. “It’s perfectly natural! Who were you thinking about? That Ghors we saw a little while back? No! Was it –“ His words were obscured by a burp and laughter. His wide green eyes turned on Liam, finally looking at his face. “Oh, wait, no! I know! It was Zayn, right? You’ve got it bad for that pirate! Don’t think we haven’t seen!”

Liam opened his mouth to argue. He hadn’t been thinking about Zayn. Not really. Yeah, the pirate was quite good-looking, but Liam just – No. No, he wasn’t doing _that_ over Zayn. His cheeks grew warm.

“Plenty of people in the Clusters are like me, you know,” Harry stage-whispered. “It doesn’t matter if you like people of the same sex, Liam. Just remember that.”

“I don’t – “ He began to argue the fact, but really he didn’t know. He just knew that on Earth, he hadn’t felt an urges towards anyone. Now, though, now things were different.

“Oh, Liam. Once I’m not drunk anymore, I hope I remember this because we’re going to have a nice long talk about that nice long one.” The gangly drunken fool reached down as if to pat Liam’s crotch, but he ducked out of the way just in time, much to Harry’s amusement.

“Alright, Harry, let’s get you to bed. Or to Louis.”

A wide smile appeared, a happy one. He stage-whispered again, “They’re really both the same at this point, I think.”

Surely, when Liam dropped Harry off into his room, Louis was already curled up on the bed, hiccupping from his own alcohol consumption. Liam left them there together, hoping that one of them at least was sober enough to make sure that the other didn’t choke on their own vomit.

He returned to his own room, contemplated the possibility of getting into bed or the large bath and finishing what he’d started in the pool, before deciding against it. He stripped out of the heavy outfit, climbed into bed, and willed himself to sleep.

***

Harry’s hangover lasted a whole week. Every time that one of them came near his room, he moaned and groaned until they left him alone.

It was on one of those days when they landed this ship on a remote planet in Pisces called Ios. Zayn and Niall were getting along again, seemingly having resolved whatever issues had set them off the week before, so they both left the ship in the care of Louis (never a wise choice) who left it in the care of Liam (much wiser) as soon as Liam was awake.

When he asked why Louis was abandoning ship, the only answer he got was “To go find the local market. They’ve got the cure to any hangover in all the Clusters. Don’t let the ship explode while I’m gone!”

Louis made it back just in time to not get busted for abandoning his post. He ran inside through the doors before they were fully opened, his green goggles still covering his eyes, and a bottle of something fizzling held out in front of him like it might explode. Liam really hoped it wouldn’t.

Just moments after the door had closed after Louis’s entrance, it reopened to permit Niall who was carrying a decently sized box by himself. He struggled over the threshold, but eventually he made it in. The door _whoosh_ ed shut behind him.

“This was difficult to get.” Niall groaned, carefully lowering the box to the floor. Whatever creature that was inside of it made a sound and rattled against the side of the box. “And now I’ve really got to piss. Will you take care of this, Liam? You’re good with all the animals. Zayn should be back in a bit, but I really want this put in a cage before then.”

He ran off before Liam could give an answer or ask where Zayn was.

The box rattled again, and Liam was a bit scared to pick it up, although he wouldn’t admit that to anyone else. It wasn’t as heavy as it looked, although he could feel the creature inside it shifting around as Liam maneuvered the web of hallways and rooms. It finally grew still when he walked inside the animal conservatory.

Liam set the box down just outside the open cage he was planning on putting it into.

The box rattled again.

“Alright, patience, please.” He murmured, taking the key off the hook by the door to unlock the padlock Niall used to fasten the animal transport crates closed. He jiggled the key in the lock, and finally heard it click. The lid flew open and Liam was looking down into the box at a tiny, adorable creature.

Maybe tiny wasn’t the correct word, but it was small, and very adorable. It actually slightly resembled a creature he recognized from Earth. A spiky rodent that he’d only ever seen a handful of times, and didn’t actually know the name of. He only knew to stay clear of them because they liked to throw their spikes.

When the creature made a soft sound somewhere between a chirp and a meow, Liam knew that it couldn’t be as bad as the Earth version of it. He held out his hand to it.

Its copper fur bristled as it purred dangerously, nuzzling its soft nose into Liam’s palm, one of its four hands snaking up to curl around his wrist. He couldn’t help but laugh at the sensation.

“What are you?” He asked it, half expecting it to answer back because in such a strange place as the Pisces cluster it wasn’t entirely that odd for a creature to speak.

Instead of talking, it blinked up at him with wide, purple eyes.

“That’s a Lip.”

Liam’s head snapped up to see Zayn, leaning against the doorway, a bemused smile hanging off his lips. His hair was a tousled mess of ebony today, and Liam couldn’t help but admire how well it fit him.

“A ‘leep?” Liam tested the strange pronunciation on his tongue. The creature purred again and wrapped a second hand around his wrist.

The pirate nodded. “Yeah. They’re cute, aren’t they?” He began walking across the room, and Liam looked back down at the one in front of him. “A bit dangerous though if you don’t know how to treat them. Their tails are barbed.” He pointed at the coiled knot at the base of the Lip’s back.

The creature blinked up at them both innocently. “Guess we should put it back in its cage now.” Liam suggested, running his free hand over the bizarre strands of copper covering its back.

“That’d be best, yeah.” Zayn reached down, carefully prying its fingers off of Liam’s arm. It whined and wiggled its fur, but Zayn lifted it from the floor. He turned his back on Liam, returning the Lip to the empty cage, careful of where its tail was uncurling. “Harry’s feeling better, and he’s looking for you.”

Liam tried to prevent his face from paling, from revealing that he already knew what Harry wanted to talk about. He shrugged. “I know.” Of course, Harry would remember what he’d seen and what he’d said when he was drunk.

“Any particular reason that you’re avoiding him?” Zayn asked, fastening the locks on the Lip’s cage. He glanced back over his shoulder to where Liam was standing, staring down at his hands and clearly avoiding eye contact.

How could he tell Zayn that Harry had accused him of having feelings for the pirate? It’s not like there was any solid base to build that idea on, and Liam didn’t even think Zayn was into men. Sure, Harry had argued that many people in the 13 Clusters were like himself, favoring both men and women, but Liam didn’t think Zayn was one of those. Not really.

He shrugged again; his brows tugged down into a frown. “No reason. I mean, I’m not really avoiding him, am I? He’s been hungover for the past week.”

Zayn nodded and let a small smile pull at his lips. “Well, while you’re unreasonably not really avoiding him, do you want to come on a brief adventure with me?” He inched towards the door that led to the MedBay.

Chances were high that Harry was at the other end of that dark hallway, so Liam nodded at the other doors that led through to the greenhouse. “As long as we go this way instead, I’ll come with you.”

“Of course.” Zayn laughed.

Liam followed.

As they passed through the plant conservatory, the air hot and sticky on their skin, Liam caught up with Zayn, laying a hand briefly on the older man’s bare shoulder. “Where is this brief adventure of yours leading us?”

Zayn paused, reaching out to caress the petals of a large flower that stretched out in return to meet his touch. “The Map Room. Niall said I could borrow it, and he told me how to use it.” He glanced up, burnished bronze eyes melting as his gaze met Liam’s. “I told you about my home on Caprusin...”

“And how you were banished.” Liam remembered well the story Zayn had told him beside the Xollehe fire. “Are we going to look at your planet?”

A sharp nod was the only answer he received. Zayn started off to the next doorway, leaving the flower’s petals curling in on themselves without his touch.

The map room was dark as always when they stepped inside of it, and Liam bumped into Zayn’s back when the other man drew up short.

“Map on!” He cried, and Liam heard for the first time an accent, presumably from his home planet, in Zayn’s voice.

Walls whirred to life around them, images flickering past in a blur. Finally, they settled on a swirling eddy of reds and blues that was almost no better than before.

“This is one of the many Pits of Charylla.” Zayn told Liam as he walked towards the center of the room where the black control panel stood waiting for a command. “It’s one of a carnivorous range of planets on the outskirts of the Sombrero galaxy in Virgo.”

Liam shuddered at the thought.

Zayn ignored the shifting colors on the walls in favor of poking at the tablet. His hair flickered from ebony to a navy blue, but before Liam could be sure of the change, it was back to deepest ebony. He’d never seen Zayn shift his hair color that quickly before, and he’d expected that it was a more time-consuming process. The other man looked up at him then, and he lost his train of thought.

“Are you ready?” Zayn asked.

Once again, the walls spun around for a moment before grinding to a half and revealing a forest of thin black trees that turned gray in the distance. Liam spun in circles, looking in every direction. He could just see that the tops of the trees ended in a fluffy white top, looking like clouds even from underneath.

Behind him, Zayn sighed. A soft thud followed that sound, and Liam turned back to see that the pirate had moved down to the floor and was sitting in an upright fetal position – arms twisted around his legs, chin resting on his knee. Liam joined him.

“I came here often as a child.” Zayn whispered, eyes flickering around through the shadowy branches. “It’s one of the quietest, coolest places on Caprusin. All the rest is dry sand and harsh, rocky surfaces that the wind howls over. We called the wind _Masthura_ , after the myth that told of a woman whose husband was murdered by our king, and her screams that followed would rend the air for eternity. Masthura was scared of the woods, so I knew I would be safe there from her rage.”

Liam observed the man at his side. Shrunken down as he hunched over himself, and with eyes that had gone wide and innocent lost in memory as he was, he looked like a child.

Zayn’s voice wavered when he next spoke. “The Wood of Whispers. This was the place I ran to after I stole the crystal.” He looked to Liam then, making sure that he understood that Zayn was talking about his banishment again. “I thought I knew the woods better than anyone else. Obviously I was wrong.” He didn’t look away from Liam’s eyes as he smiled.

“Obviously.” Liam dropped his gaze; it settled on the black tablet still held in Zayn’s hands. “What else does Caprusin look like?”

A moment later, Zayn sent the walls revolving around them again. They froze on a wide, bright desert.

The sand was a rusted orange, the sky a pale blue that could nearly be mistaken for white. There was no end to the desert, and the only thing to break up the obnoxious orange were the outcroppings of beautiful purple amethyst. So large that Liam’s breath caught in his throat.

“It’s beautiful.” He longed to reach out and touch one. Zayn had told him of the energy that the crystals possessed, and to touch one would feel like a surge of electricity. “My mumma had a very small one of these crystals that she wore around her neck. Amethyst was a very rare thing on Earth, and after the War, people would kill for just a tiny chip of any gem.” He swallowed and reached below the collar of his shirt, drawing out the chain that held the gem. “I took it with me when she died.”

Now it was Zayn’s turn to catch his breath. The amethyst Liam revealed to him was no bigger than the tip of his pinky finger, yet it was the most he’d seen of his home planet since the banishment.

“Can I?” He extended his hand halfway, fingers itching to touch the pendant. Liam nodded.

This crystal was absent of all familiar energy, but Zayn didn’t mind that as he scooted closer to Liam, closer to the amethyst. He didn’t notice just how close he drew, but Liam did.

Zayn’s hair was just shy of brushing Liam’s nose as he bowed his head over the necklace. The scent of raspberry clung to the jet-black tips of his hair.

“You will never believe -!” One of the doors of the Map room burst open, and Louis, with all of his exuberance, poured inside. He paused when he noticed the moment he was intruding on, but it was too late. Zayn jumped back from Liam, and Liam squealed as the chain dug into his neck from the sudden movement.

“Louis!” Zayn was on his feet an instant later, racing towards his friend.

Louis was looking around at the walls, taking in the sight of the desert and cliffs and finally coming to rest on the sight of Liam still sitting cross-legged on the floor, cradling a piece of amethyst on his necklace. The small man grinned. “What exactly did I intrude on?” He turned his wicked gaze on Zayn.

“Nothing. Now leave.” He shoved at Louis’s arm, trying to get him back out the door he’d just come through, but it was already too late.

He pushed back, adding a touch of heat to his skin. Zayn leapt back, hissing as if singed. “Is this Caprusin? Oh, stop blushing, Zayn.” He scoffed and waved a hand, walking towards the middle of the room, towards Liam, as if that would give him a better view of the world mapped on the walls.

Liam just caught a glimpse of the red roots of Zayn’s hair before they faded back to black. “Louis, I said leave. I’m in charge of this ship. You’ll do as I say.” The captain-voice that Zayn put on wasn’t quite authoritative enough, but it worked.

Those ice blue eyes turned on him, swept up and down once, and then Louis cut across the rest of the room to the door that led to the MedBay. “Fine. I’ll leave you two, but just know I’m leaving by my own volition, and because I want to go annoy Harry.”

The door slid open and shut softly behind him, but Liam was still staring at Zayn.

His tattooed arms were folded across his chest, and his pink bottom lip tucked under his front teeth. Liam nudged the tablet, and the walls flickered, fading to a muted black, providing a strange glow that still offered them light. They both startled at the sudden change.

“I’d better go see Harry, actually.” Liam cleared his throat. “Save him from Louis, you know.”

In the dim glow, he saw Zayn nod.

Neither shared another word as Liam turned his back and escaped out the same door Louis had just taken. He didn’t hear the quiet curse Zayn uttered as the hall’s door whooshed shut behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's taken me so long to update! With school stuff and a busy Spring Break, I haven't had all that much time to work on this until now.  
> Like always please leave kudos and/or a comment because I love reading your feedback :)

**Author's Note:**

> Let's pretend that my astronomy is correct (even though it's not). Please like and comment!


End file.
